The visit of the US State Secretary exceeded all Georgia's expectations.
The visit of Hillary Clinton to Georgia lasted only six hours: her plane arrived in Tbilisi at noon and by 6pm was in the air again. Meanwhile, these few hours turned out to be important and even deceptive in the context of political developments in the region.
The State Secretary has given the Georgian government everything they could possibly want and more. Mikhail Saakashvili did not hope for additional financial aid, especially given that Georgia has received more short-term direct relief aid from the US than any other country in the world. In particular, since August 2008, the US has allocated $1 billion, while aid from other Western states totals $4.5 billion, exceeding Georgia's annual budget.
Clinton was expected to express a clear political opinion and render support regarding South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The State Secretary referred to the presence of the Russian troops in the " unrecognized republics" as an occupation, and urged Russia to withdraw occupying forces. She also promised to raise this question during talks with Russian leaders.
This statement has given Mikhail Saakhashvili grounds to claim that the current US position provides for more prospects to restore Georgia's territorial integrity than there used to be before the war of 2008, when Russian troops acted as peacekeepers. The relevance of these hopes is still under question; nevertheless, such statements about Russian occupation give the Georgian government additional support among the Georgian population. Moreover, Clinton's visit has put an end to rumours about Georgia's isolation.
Clinton and Saakhashvili spent the evening after the negotiations walking around old Tbilisi. Clinton asked to stop at one of the bars, where she had a Georgian wine tasting. She made a toast "To Georgia!" and promised to come back, while Saakhashvili promised to introduce her to the night life of Tbilisi.
All of the above was taking place in front of the cameras, and it is doubtful that such an experienced politician as Clinton did not realize the content of the political message she was sending to all the parties interested in Georgia, by demonstrating her support of Saakashvli's administration.
In the end, Clinton refused to hold meetings with representatives of the radical opposition, including the ex-parliamentary speaker Nino Burdzhanidze, demanding Saakashvili's resignation. She only spent around fifteen minutes with representatives of the so-called "system opposition" - Iraklii Alasaniya and Georgii Targamadze.
It appears that Washington is not ready for a change of power in Georgia (at least until 2013, when Saakashvili's second term in office ends), as another revolution would be taken as a defeat of the USA in this country.
Georgii Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively for VK.
