Georgia sends forces to Africa

By Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

Georgian Defense Minister Irakly Alasania has recently said at a meeting with EU officials that the government will consider sending Georgian troops to the Central African Republic where an international peacekeeping operation will start in early March.

The idea to send forces to the republic came from the EU. It seems that Europeans were impressed with activeness of Georgia in Afghanistan, where Georgian troops remain the biggest group of non-NATO assistants and exceed the number of many allied groups.

Georgian forces were smaller than those of America and the UK after the post-war operation in Iraq. Europeans, being scrupulous about every soldier sent on a mission, expected Tbilisi to give an immediate approval and Georgia to send a large force to the CAR. Perhaps, Europeans hoped to send none of their troops to Africa at all because the mission does not need a big force.

Irakly Alasania, one of the most wise and pragmatic Georgian politicians, made an elusive statement: “We will study the issue and make a decision later.” Experts started spreading rumours that the government of Garibashvili was not in a hurry to say “yes,” expecting concessions and responsible decisions from the West. The stake may as well be big this time: a road map for Georgia to join the Alliance at the next NATO summit in the UK.

After dozens of Georgian soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, it would be naïve to think that Georgia’s participation in new peacekeeping operations would depend on concessions of Western partners. There are outcries in Tbilisi: “Our guys risk their lives for theirs, and all they want is to outrage Moscow over such trifle as the road map.” Members of the NATO Military Committee hinted at their recent visit to Tbilisi that it would be nice to keep Georgian troops in Afghanistan after withdrawal of NATO members. Knud Bartels, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, has repeated several times that 1700 soldiers and officers from Georgia were doing great. Prime Minister Garibashvili who discussed the peacekeeping initiatives with Bartels gave an evasive answer: “we will consider, study, we do not rule out, we give no promises.”

It seems that Tbilisi is indeed trying to persuade European countries (mainly Germany and France) to change their negative attitude towards giving Georgia desired road map. Only time will show how adequate this consideration would be. No matter how bad pragmatic Europeans want to take advantage of others, the other scale pan is the inevitable rage of Moscow and risk of serious repercussions in relations between the main world players. This is why expectations of Tbilisi from the service may turn out naïve.