Scoop.co.nz (press release), New Zealand
May 10 2005
Rice IV on Imedi TV with Revaz Sakevarishvili
Press Release: US State Department
Interview on Imedi TV with Revaz Sakevarishvili
Secretary Condoleezza Rice
Tbilisi Marriott Hotel
Tbilisi, Georgia
May 10, 2005
MR. SAKEVARISHVILI: Madame Secretary, welcome to Georgia. I’d like to
thank you on behalf of our company. During the time schedule, you
have found a few minutes to answer our questions. The first question;
how successful was your visit to Russia and Georgia? And what can we
expect from this visit?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, let me start with the visit to Georgia. This
has been a wonderful visit. The President last night had a great
introduction to Georgian culture, and to Georgian hospitality.
Georgia is a country that the United States considers a good friend.
And it’s a good friend not just because of what Georgia has done to
support us in the war on terrorism in Iraq or Afghanistan, or because
of our deep cultural ties, but because we share values. And it has
become very clear that the world has been inspired by the Rose
Revolution. So this trip has been terrific. I think the President is
having a good time and we look forward to many, many years of
excellent relations between the United States and Georgia.
MR. SAKEVARISHVILI: Georgia hopes to get support from the United
States in order to restore its territorial integrity. Georgian
government officials often say that Russia is the main negative
factor that prevents Georgia from achieving this. What do you think
Washington can do to help Georgia in this mentioned above?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, we’ve had good discussions with the Russians
over the years but also when we were in Moscow, about the importance
of Georgian territorial integrity and the move for a unified Georgia.
I do believe that there are really two aspects to this. One is that
the international community could be helpful. In South Ossetia for
instance, at times the OSCE has been involved. In Abkhazia, the
United Nations has a role to play. And so the United States, in
conjunction with the international community will try and help
Georgia to resolve these difficult conflicts. But it’s also the case
that the stronger Georgia becomes economically, the more vibrant this
democracy becomes, I think that you will see that people want to be a
part of Georgia. Yes, people may want some autonomy in their local
affairs — they may want some local control over some issues. But a
unified Georgia that is democratic is going to be a magnet for all
kinds of people. This can be a great multi-ethnic democracy and that
I think is really Georgia’s future.
MR. SAKEVARISHVILI: A couple years ago an American funded Train and
Equip program was started. Initially the White House stated that
American trained troops were not entitled to take part in the
settlement of internal conflicts. Is there any possibility that
Washington’s position may change?
SECRETARY RICE: Well we believe strongly that there should not be the
use of military force in these internal conflicts. We have made that
clear with the Georgian government. In fact, these are issues that
need to be resolved politically and diplomatically. I do believe that
as the democracy develops here there will be reason for people who
now live in Abkhazia or live in South Ossetia to really want to be a
part of this great Georgian democracy. All forces for Train and Equip
were to ensure that Georgia could fight terrorism. We started in the
Pankisi George and I think we’ve had some great success there. But it
is really the case that we do not believe in the use of military
force in these internal conflicts and therefore American forces,
forces that were trained by the United States, could not be used in
those conflicts.
MR. SAKEVARISHVILI: In his annual report President Bush mentioned
Iran as the danger of freedom and democracy around the world. What’s
the plan that Washington has to deal with this problem? Is there any
chance that an anti-Iran operation could resemble anti-Iraq one, and
what part could Georgia play?
SECRETARY RICE: Well, we have no intention of using military force in
Iran. The fact is that conflicts are different. And Iraq had for
twelve years, twelve long years, defied the international community.
It was time to deal with this brutal dictator in Iraq. Iran is a
country where we have many, many concerns about Iran’s role in
funding terrorism in the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon, in
other parts of the world and we all as a world need to deal with
Iran. Funding and support for terrorism, which is open that they
support terrorism. We also have to deal with Iran’s ambitions for
nuclear technology to complete to a nuclear weapons program. And
there, we are working with the Europeans to try and support their
negotiations to get Iran to live up to its international obligations.
Now as to democracy I firmly believe that Iran will not be immune to
the changes that are going on in the world. If you look around the
world, people are demanding their democratic right. And the Iranian
people are a sophisticated people, they are wordly people. They want
to be a part of the international community. And they are being
denied their rights by an unelected few in Iran who want to impose
their particular view of the relationship between religion and
politics on the Iranian population. Iran is a proud and great nation.
And Iran will find its place in democratic values because as you know
it’s not too far from here. But the freedom, and the spirit of
freedom that is spreading throughout the world, Iran is not going to
be easy.
MR. SAKEVARISHVILI: Do you think that the attitude of Washington
towards Georgia would change, according to democracy in Georgia?
SECRETARY RICE: Well we believe that Georgia is on a democratic path.
And everything that I have seen since I’ve been here, and I think
that everything that the President has seen since he’s been here is
that Georgia is on a democratic path. It is not easy to build
democracy and we understand that it’s not just having luncheons, the
President will say that to the Georgian leaders. He’s said it in his
speech, that it’s not just having luncheons, it’s building democratic
institutions. We were able to meet with the Speaker of the
Parliament. It means having a strong legislative branch. It means
having a strong independent judiciary. It means rooting out
corruption in government. It means allowing the economy to be free of
too much government interference. These are the foundations of
democracy, and along with freedom of speech, freedom of worship and
protection of minority rights, that’s how you build a democracy. And
so I’m confident that that is the road that Georgia is on. It’s why I
believe that our friendship is only going to get deeper over time.
MR. SAKEVARISHVILI: During your visit to Riga, President Bush met
with the Presidents of the Baltic States. But in Tbilisi he did not
agree to meet with leaders of two other Caucasian countries. What’s
the reason for this? The level of democracy or anything else?
SECRETARY RICE: Oh, the visit to the Baltic States was a particular
kind, the President went to Latvia, he had been to Lithuania, and as
you know, of course the Baltic States are members of NATO, they are
allies and so he wanted to bring them all together, but we have
relations with Azerbaijan, we have relations with Armenia and we
value those relations. We do believe that it is important that
democracy spreads in the Caucasus. Georgia is a wonderful example for
people in this entire region of what can happen when people start to
take their rightful place in the communities around them.
MR. SAKEVARISHVILI: Thank you for your time. I hope it’s not your
last visit.
SECRETARY RICE: Oh, I think it will not be my last visit to Georgia.
It’s a wonderful place and I’ve always loved coming to Georgia. And I
very much support coming again.
MR. SAKEVARISHVILI: Thank you.
2005/497
Released on May 10, 2005