By Vestnik Kavkaza
Europe expresses its indignation when commenting on the agreement on alliance and strategic partnership signed by Vladimir Putin and Raul Khadjimba. It requires financing of a united space of defense and security, including formation of a united force grouping of Russia and Abkhazia. The Georgian authorities intend to raise the issue of the document at the Geneva talks on December 9-10th. However, the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg has already stated that the agreement doesn’t contribute to a long-term settlement of the situation in Georgia.
The Russian-Abkhazian agreement had been considered by Zurab Abashidze, the special envoy of the Premier of Georgia for settlement of relations with Russia, and Grigory Karasin, the deputy head of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, before it was signed. Abashidze called the meeting the most difficult of all. Usually after such consultations Abashidze and Karasin set the date of the next meeting; but this time they didn’t do so.
Gulbaat Rtskhiladze, a political scientist, the head of the Eurasia Institute, commented for Vestnik Kavkaza on the attempts to normalize Russian-Georgian relations: “The relations are far from being perfect, but the current level is thought to be satisfactory, considering our recent past.”
Rtskhiladze urged Moscow and Tbilisi to preserve it and meet each other halfway. According to him, the new government in Tbilisi “is not absolutely independent, as Georgia hasn’t been formed as a completely sovereign state which makes decisions, considering its own interests, yet.”
“Good relations with Russia are beneficial for Georgia, but the mass media, NGOs and political parties have an opposite point of view, as all of them listen to the USA and other Western states. They provide them with financial aid and political directives. The government hasn’t freed itself of the burden and cannot take decisive steps toward full-scale normalization of the situation with Russia,” Rtskhiladze said, expressing slight optimism about a normalization of relations between Moscow and Tbilisi.
