Georgia-Russia relations

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Georgian-Russian
relations

Events

Primary parties involved

Georgia
Russia
v • d • e

Georgian-Russian relations are the relations between Georgia and Russia and between the Georgian and Russian people in particular which lasts from the Middle Ages.

Image:Abkhazia and South Ossetia.JPG

Russia generally supports Abkhazia and South Ossetia, republics that broke away from Georgia in the early 90s and have been de facto independent ever since. This is considered to be the greatest problem of Georgian-Russian relations

1 Post-independence relations (1992-2003)
2 Relations after the Rose Revolution (2003-present)
3 September 2007 controversy over the Russian ambassador's statement
4 Georgian demonstrations - alleged Russian involvement
5 References

[edit] Post-independence relations (1992-2003)

The tensions between Georgia and Russia, which had become tense even before the collapse of the Soviet Union, climaxed during the seccessionist conflict in Abkhazia in 1992-3. The Russian support to the Abkhaz and Ossetian separatists proved critical in the de facto secession of these territories from Georgia. In the aftermath of the military setback in Abkhazia in 1993, the Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze had to concede to the Kremlin's pressure and agreed to join the CIS in exchange for the Russian support against the forces loyal to the ousted Georgian president Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Since then, Russia has maintained its military presence in Georgia proper (in the form of the newly legalized military bases which had officially been declared by Gamsakhurdia's government as "occupational" in 1991). The CIS peacekeeping missions in Abkhazia and partially in South Ossetia are also formed of Russian troops.

Russia accused Georgia of helping Chechen separatists and some supplies and reinforcements indeed reached the rebels via Georgian territory. The separatists also took refuge in the Pankisi Gorge in eastern Georgia. After Russia had threatened to launch cross-border attacks against them in 2002, the Georgian government took steps to establish order there with help from the USA.^[1]

[edit] Relations after the Rose Revolution (2003-present)

[edit] Rose revolution

Main article: Rose Revolution

See also: Georgia and NATO, Georgia and the European Union.

[edit] Abkhazia

Image:Moscow rally 8.10.06.jpg

An opposition rally in Moscow on October 8 2006. The sign reads: "The Kremlin - instigator of war with the Georgian people."

Russia has lost its role as a mediator in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, according to Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili. Speaking in a 2006 interview with a Russian newspaper, Bezhuashvili said that Georgia would try to create channels for "direct dialogue" alongside existing negotiating formats. Bezhuashvili also said that UN monitoring of the Kodori Gorge, which was suspended three years ago, could resume within "two or three weeks" once security has been established. The following is the text of the interview published by Vremya Novostey on 4 August:

Russian-Georgian relations are going through a crisis. The Georgian operation in Abkhazia's Kodori Gorge led Moscow to accuse Georgia of violating earlier agreements. Tbilisi responded by accusing Moscow of supporting separatists. The day before yesterday, in the evening, the first casualties occurred among the Russian peacekeepers since the situation intensified: Maksim Basenko and Vladimir Vasilchuk were shot dead in the Gudauta District. Their deaths are most likely connected with the criminal world, since the peacekeepers were escorting a large sum of money for the payment of wages. The Abkhaz authorities are conducting an investigation. But Georgia perceives what happened as confirmation of the complex nature of the situation in the unrecognized republic.^[2]

Image:Georgian Embassy rally.jpg

A protest rally near the Georgian embassy in Moscow. The sign reads:"Georgians and Russians don't want the war and Saakashvili".

Russia has granted citizenship to many residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Tbilisi regularly accuses Moscow of meddling in its internal affairs; Moscow says Tbilisi is preparing for military operations.^[3]

Georgian Foreign Ministry accuses Russian peacemakers of inactivity in the conflict zone of Abkhazia. "Russian peacekeepers continue to act in defiance of their mandated obligations, turning a blind eye to gross violation of law and human rights taking place in their very presence", according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry.^[4]

All the international agreements represent an integral part of the Georgian legislation and are legally binding throughout the entire territory of Georgia, including Abkhazia. Besides, the Protocol under paragraph 4 of the Moscow Agreement of 14 May, 1994 stipulates that the CIS peacekeeping forces, while performing their functions, are obliged to comply with the requirements of Georgia’s domestic laws and regulations.^[5]

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia condemns the separatist regime’s unlawful practices and the inaction of the CIS peacekeepers and believes that in contrast with "our dedicated efforts to establish stability and achieve a peaceful resolution of the conflict", the acts of the Abkhazian side "lay bare the genuine character of their destructive and aggressive goals and aspirations."^[6]

Russia still has one military base in Georgia (at Batumi). The headquarters of the Russian military forces in the Caucasus were located in Tbilisi until recently. According to the 2005-6 agreements, the withdrawal of Russian forces will be completed by January 1 2008.

[edit] Adjara crisis

Main article: 2004 Adjara crisis.

[edit] Gas supply pipeline sabotage

Main article: 2006 North Ossetia sabotages

See also: White Stream

[edit] Russian ban of Georgian wines

Main article: 2006 Russian ban of Moldovan and Georgian wines

[edit] Spying row

Main article: 2006 Georgian-Russian espionage controversy.

Georgian-Russian relations deteriorated seriously during the September-October 2006 Georgia-Russia spying row when Georgia detained four Russian officers on spying charges. Russia responded by imposing economic sanctions on Georgia and withdrawing its embassy from Tbilisi.

[edit] Deportation of Georgians

Main article: 2006 deportation of Georgians from Russia

During the spying row, the Russian authorities started to deport Georgian citizens from Russia on alleged charges of visa violations. The government of Georgia as well as the influential human rights organizations such as Freedom House and Human Rights Watch accused the Russian authorities of "tolerating and encouraging the mistreatments of immigrants from Georgia and other Caucasus countries."^[7] and of "a deliberate campaign to detain and expel thousands of Georgians living in Russia."^[8] On 27 March 2007, Georgia filed an interstate lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights over the cases of violations of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the course of the deportation of Georgian citizens from Russia in autumn of 2006. Russia described this as a "new unfriendly step taken against Russia".^[9]

[edit] Alleged air space violations

[edit] Helicopter attack incident

Main article: 2007 Georgia helicopter incident.

In March, a village in the Georgian controlled area of Abhkazia was according to Georgia attacked by three Russian helicopters. Russia denied the allegations.

[edit] Tsitelubani missile incident

Main article: 2007 Georgia missile incident.

On August 7, 2007, a missile landed in the Georgian-controlled village of Tsitelubani, some 65 km north of Tbilisi. Georgian officials said that two Russian fighter jets violated its airspace and fired a missile, which fell on the edge of a village but did not explode. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said the incident was part of a pattern of Russian aggression against its neighbors and urged European states to condemn Moscow. Georgia claimed to have radar evidence proving that the invading aircraft flew in from Russia and said that the strike had aimed, unsuccessfully, at destroying radar equipment recently installed near the South Ossetian conflict zone.^[10]^[11]

South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity described the incident as "a provocation staged by the Georgian side, aimed at discrediting Russia", claiming that another bomb fell in South Ossetia.^[12] In his words, "a Georgian military plane crossed into South Ossetia on Monday, performed manoeuvres above Ossetian villages and dropped two bombs."^[13]

Russia also denied the Georgian claim.^[14] and said that Georgian jets may have fired the missile on their own territory as a way of provoking tensions in the region and derailing a session of the Joint Control Commission on Georgian-South Ossetian Conflict Resolution.^[15] Georgia immediately denounced the claim as absurdity. South Ossetian officials as well as two Georgian opposition politicians also suggested that the Georgian authorities might have been behind the incident.^[16]^[17]^[18]

[edit] Plane downing incident

Main article: 2007 Georgia plane downing incident.

[edit] September 2007 controversy over the Russian ambassador's statement

On September 24, 2007, the Russian ambassador to Georgia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, became embroiled in a controversy over his statement at a televised informal meeting with Georgian intellectuals organized by the Tbilisi-based Russian-Georgian Friendship Union in which he referred to the Georgian people as a "dying-out nation", and announced to the Georgians that they will soon became extinct in the face of globalization while Russia is "a large country, a huge country. It can digest this. You, the Georgians, will fail to digest this."^[19]

The statements sparked a public outrage in Georgia and Kovalenko was summoned by Georgia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs for explanations while the opposition factions in the Parliament of Georgia demanded the withdrawal of Kovalenko from Georgia. Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson, Nino Burjanadze, responded to the ambassador’s prediction: "Maybe, certain forces in Russia really want to see the extinction of Georgian nation, but this will not happen… I would advice Mr. Kovalenko to think about Russia and its demographic problems and we will ourselves take care of Georgian problems, including the demographic ones."^[20]^[21]

[edit] Georgian demonstrations - alleged Russian involvement

Main article: 2007 Georgian demonstrations

In a televised address on the day of clashes between protesters and police in Tbilisi on November 7, 2007, Saakashvili said his country faced "a very serious threat of unrest". "High ranking officials in Russian special services are behind this," he said, adding that he had evidence. He said several Russian diplomats would be expelled from Georgia for engaging in "espionage". Earlier he had recalled Georgia's ambassador to Moscow, Irakly Chubinishvili, for "consultations".^[22]^[23]

"Moscow regards the latest idiocy by Georgian authorities as political irresponsible provocation. An appropriate response will be made, and Russia will remain true to its commitments regarding assisting in the settlement of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts and the protection of Russian nationals living there," the Russian Foreign Ministry statement said.^[24]