Tbilisi, Minsk get on track

At a governmental session held in Batumi, president Saakashvili has confirmed that during his visit to Ukraine he held a meeting with Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko. He didn't give many details on the theme of the conversation between the two presidents, but noted that the Belarusian foreign ministry recommended Belarusian citizens refrain from trips to Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

This mostly regards last year's recommendation, when Minsk indeed recommended that its citizens consider Georgia's legislation, which permits trips to these regions only through Georgian territory. Violators risk getting a four year prison sentence.

Moreover, Saakashvili invited the Belarusian leader to go on holiday to Adjaria. The pro-government Georgian media are trying to sell this as a sign of friendly relations between the two peoples. Along with this, the Georgian authorities consider that the Customs Union, recently established by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, will become a transport corridor for Georgian wines to Russia, which banned imports in 2006. In the same year, Lukashenko was pronounced a persona non-grata in Georgia, during the tension between Minsk and Tbilisi in connection with the activity of the Georgian observers at the presidential relations, but relations significantly warmed up as soon as Minsk refused to recognize the republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Another sign of rapprochement was Saakashvili's interview on Belarusian television, parts of which were broadcast by Georgian TV. The interview was indeed aired in the evening news, translated into the Georgian language. The journalists were received in the president's office, which is another sign of gratitude, as Saakashvili traditionally receives journalists on the terrace of the presidential palace or somewhere outside, for example in a cafe.

Mikhail Saakashvili spoke about the troublesome heritage he received from previous president Eduard Shevarnadze: We received a country which was almost destroyed. Almost 80% of the population didn't have electricity supplies?

Saakashvili acknowledged that the Russian embargo on Georgian wine exports had seriously harmed the economy and thanked the Belarusian side for not supporting these sanctions. We had very different situations during our membership of the CIS, but Georgian wines were served at the Minsk summit, when Russia introduced the embargo, Saakashvili said.

With regards to the issues of South Ossetia and Abkhazia , the Georgian leader said the following: Belarus has faced strong pressure regarding recognition of the occupied territories the term used by the international community. According to Saakashvili, less than 10,000 out of 100,000 people remain in South Ossetia. ?President Medvedev paid an official visit to a so-called state, in which there are only 8,000 citizens and a few villages. Scared people greeted the leader of the Great Power. I they shouldn't have put him into such inconvenient situation. I don?t understand what they need these abandoned territories for?

Talking about relations with Moscow, Saakshvili noted that ?some leaders are pushing Russia into an era of feudalism and complained: We've always tried to meet their demands, but they were unclear. When we went for compromise in some issue, they wanted more. I think other neighbours of Russia have faced such situations?.

Meanwhile he has revealed the details of his negotiations with Vladimir Putin: I told him: Vladimir Vladimirovich. If I'm not the last one, then I'm definitely the second-last Georgian leaders who can quote Pushkin, Lermontov, Yesenin and Brodsky. I really adore your literature, your people. But new generations will rise, and no one will know what Russia is, as you push them away.

The Georgian president also mentioned that he saw a film about Belarus, broadcast by a Russian TV channel, by chance. The Belarusian authorities are almost indicted of cannibalism, in a state where two journalists were recently killed Anna Politkovskaya and Natalia Estemirova. She was going to come to Georgia and two days before this she was murdered. Tens of thousands of people have disappeared in the North Caucasus and now they have finally found out that cannibals have operated in Minsk since the 90's.

Georgii Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK.