Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-05-07-Speech-3-061"
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"en.20080507.12.3-061"2
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"Thank you, Madam President. Georgia is very close to war, according to a statement made yesterday by Georgia’s Minister of State for Reintegration. The situation between Georgia and Russia is indeed increasingly tense. Mr Putin’s edict calling upon state agencies to step up cooperation with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the shooting down of an unmanned Georgian aircraft, and the deployment of more Russian military units to Abkhazia provide good grounds for the serious concerns voiced by Mr Saakashvili’s government.
Russia – disregarding Georgia’s territorial integrity – wants to bring the two breakaway regions of Georgia gradually under its control. The Russians’ motives are illustrative of their dominant-power politics. 80% of Abkhazia’s population now have Russian citizenship and the Russians claim that they therefore have a responsibility to defend them. Equally illustrative is the statement made yesterday by General Alexey Maslov, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces: ‘Increasing the number of troops in Abkhazia is in the interests of preventing armed conflict and fostering stability in the Transcaucasus region.’
The Russian powers simply cannot bear to see that Georgia has chosen the path of autonomy and independence and Euro-Atlantic integration. Georgia is an integral part of the European Neighbourhood Policy. We have a responsibility to provide the utmost support for the reforms in Georgia and for developing democracy and the rule of law.
This is also the purpose of the consistent efforts of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee. A week ago we convened in Tbilisi, where we adopted a number of decisive recommendations. We also visited Abkhazia’s ‘conflict zone’, where conditions at present are intolerable. It is my belief that we must be more energetic and unambiguous in our support for Georgia, and exert stronger pressure on Russia. The peacekeeping forces should be transformed to make them international and neutral. Tbilisi is dealing calmly with the situation, and would like to resolve the problems by peaceful means. The parliamentary elections in Georgia have been brought forward and are now imminent. These elections will be an important test for Georgia’s young and fragile democracy, and we must give them every possible assistance to ensure their success. Thank you for your attention."@en1
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