The way is traced

“Georgia will never again use force” to solve its problems” with Moscow and to obtain the withdrawal of the Russian troops “that still occupy our territory” after the conflict of 2008, pledged Mikheil Saakashvili, President of the Caucasian Republic. Saakashvili chose the European Parliament in Strasbourg and the anniversary of the “revolution of the roses” (23 November 2003) for “a unilateral declaration”, indicating “in peaceful means alone and in dialogue” the solution for the tensions that still afflict Georgia’s relations with Moscow.Diplomacy and politics. On a day of great international tension due to North Korea’s attacks on South Korea, Saakashvili promises “coherence” and is determined to stake his country’s future on political dialogue even “if Russia continues to violate international law as she is now doing, occupying 20% of our territory and threatening our populations”. “We have 500,000 displaced or refugee citizens”, but “we realize that we need to continue with the negotiations in Geneva and for this we ask for assistance from the European Union”. Invited to speak before a formal session of the EU Parliament in Strasbourg, the Georgian leader gave a speech that was in some respects surprising, expressing his trust in diplomacy and in the political process to overcome the situation of stalemate created two years ago, with the war in South Ossetia and Abkhazia (sovereignty over which is claimed by Tbilisi, but repudiated by Moscow) and over a huge part of the national territory. “The EU can do a lot”. Saakashvili, 43 years old, elected President of Georgia in 2004 and re-confirmed for a second term in 2008, studied in the West (it was just in Strasbourg that he got to know his future wife, who is Dutch), speaks seven languages, often smiles, has an open manner, and understands the importance of the mass media in building a favourable public opinion. That’s why he was glad to meet a group of journalists on the fringes of his official engagement with the European Parliament. What exactly are you asking of the EU? “Europe can do a lot – the Georgian President replied to a question put by SIR -, but the primary assistance must concern the impulse of the negotiations” to re-establish a pacified situation. “The first victim of war is truth”, adds Saakashvili; “we are asking the EU to help us to reconstruct peace and truth”. He stops for a moment, and then resumes: “We must seek further rapprochement with Europe. That’s why the Accord of Association that we are negotiating with the EU is so important”. Tensions with Moscow. Again replying to a question posed by SIR, the young Georgian politician urged: “We also have a need for trade accords, and efforts to this end will continue” with a further meeting with EU representatives in March 2011. “And I have on my agenda a forthcoming visit” to the headquarters of the European Commission “to meet President Barroso. In Lisbon I also had an opportunity to speak with US President Obama and with other NATO leaders. So we are trying to draw closer to Europe. After the conflict in 2008 we received aid: I think for example of what we were able to do for energy infrastructures” (an issue dear to the hearts of the Twenty-Seven due to gas supplies from Central Asia). “But especially we must create conditions to resolve” our problems with Russia, “overcoming a situation that is for us intolerable, through respect for international law”. “It will undoubtedly be a long process – remarks the President -, but after all we have to begin somewhere”. And precisely this is the sense of his unilateral declaration, which is “not a sign of weakness”, insists Saakashvili, “but rather a signal of strength. Russia is a great country, but today she is an occupier that is violating our sovereignty. The aim of my declaration is to favour détente”.The European way. The Georgian President is now in full spate. He recognizes no political errors of Tbilisi in opening the conflict in Ossetia and Abkhazia, lists a long series of “successes obtained in recent years” (economic development, democratic reforms, improvement of citizens’ living conditions, stability…) and almost brushes aside the objections, albeit guarded, raised by the President of the EP, who remained at his side: “The European way for Georgia has been traced – said Jerzy Buzek -, many reforms and much progress have been made, but we await further and deeper democratic reforms and a crackdown on corruption”. Buzek, Polish President of the EP, who is all too familiar with the difficult transition of countries of the former Soviet Union to democracy, also expressed some “doubts about the full freedom of the press in Georgia”, added some words about the necessary role of the opposition and urged his guest to “build a modern country”. Saakashvili in reply urged his European credentials: “We feel ourselves to be Europeans. The walls built by a short-sighted political system distanced us from Europe”, but the will of the Georgians is to proceed towards the EU. He quoted Victor Hugo and the “Prague Spring”. Lastly, sotto voce, he spoke of “some of our errors”. “No one teaches us how to be free and how to build a free country” after a dictatorship”. And he takes his leave once again with a smile.