"Georgia has just seen an invasion by the army of a nuclear power and
half its territory is still occupied" Mikheil Saakashvili said during
his speech at the UN General Assembly. He said that Georgia's problems
could be solved with the modernization of Caucasus - North and South,
with or without Russia's participation. From the times of Pushkin and
on, the Caucasus was a region where people were fundamentally free,
but as citizens they were enslaved, said Saakashvili, but these times
are passing, Georgia now is a laboratory of political reforms and
social transformation. He called recent years a "mental revolution"
and spoke about war on corruption and "the birth of the Georgian
meritocracy", while its northern neighbour tried to annihilate it to
block reforms leading to changes in the whole Caucasus. Saakashvili
also alluded to the fact that Russia threatens the international
security, since the Georgian special service has impeded Russian
citizens transferring uranium via Georgia. The Georgian president
accused Moscow of violating the Sarkozy-Medvedev agreement. He
recalled Putin's words about the demise of the Soviet Union as the
"greatest political disaster of the 20th century". Saakashvili said
that he dreams about the time when Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region
will become "leaders of a united, independent, democratic and European
Georgia". He called on Russia to regard other countries as partners,
not as vassals. Modernization can't be attained without freedom, he
stated, adding that "Russia's most talented businessman, Mikhail
Khodorkovsky, was sent to the gulag". Saakashvili also called on the
international community to participate in peacekeeping in the Caucasus
and spoke about a project of Caucasus integration with the European
Union.
Tbilisi. Georgy Kalatozishvili. Exclusively for VK.
