Georgia-Russia relations

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Georgia-Russia relations

Georgia (country)	Russia

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

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. The ties that were disconnected by Mongol Invasion, were reestablished and became regular. Georgian kings asked Russia for military help due to theats from Ottoman Empire and Persia.Georgia colony that existed in Moscow from the end of XVII century had remarkable role in tight relations between two countries. In 1783 Georgia signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with the Russian Empire, placing the eastern Georgian kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti under the Russian patronage. Despite Russia's commitment to defend Georgia, it rendered no assistance when the Turks invaded in 1785 and again in 1795. This period culminated in the 1801 Russian annexation of remaining Georgian lands and the deposing of the Bagrationi dynasty. In 1918 the Democratic Republic of Georgia was established. The republic was short-lived, as in 1921 Georgia was invaded and occupied by Bolsheviks eventually being incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1922.

[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

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]

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 (see also Russians in Georgia). 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]

According to the 2005-6 agreements, the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgia was 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 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]

[edit] 2008 crisis

Main article: 2008 Georgia-Russia crisis

[edit] April 2008 Georgian drone downing incident

On April 20, 2008 a Georgian unmanned unarmed aerial vehicle (UAV) was shot down over the Abkhazian conflict zone. Abkhazia's separatist administration immediately said its own forces shot down the drone because it was violating Abkhaz airspace and breached ceasefire agreements. Garry Kupalba, deputy defence minister of the unrecognised Republic of Abkhazia, told reporters the drone had been shot down by an "L-39 aircraft of the Abkhaz Air Force". He also identified the drone as an Israeli-made Hermes 450.^[25]

However, Georgia's defence ministry released video the next day showing what appears to be a Russian MiG-29 shooting down the unarmed Georgian drone. The video, shot from the drone moments before impact, shows a jet launching a missile over what appears to be the Black Sea. According to Georgia the jet came from Gudauta and then returned to Russia. Moscow denied Georgia’s accusation and stressed that none of its planes were in the region at the time.^[26][27] Furthermore, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement accusing Georgia of violating 1994 Moscow agreement and United Nations resolutions on Abkhazia by deploying without authorisation a UAV (which also can be used to direct fire) in the Security Zone and the Restricted Weapons Zone.^[28]

On April 24, a closed-door U.N. Security Council emergency session convened at Georgia’s request failed to resolve the dispute, but the U.S., the United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a join statement expressing their concern over Russia’s recent moves in Abkhazia and calling Moscow to reverse or not to implement its decision to legalize the ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Russian ambassador to the U.N. Vitaly Churkin called the demand by the Western states "a tall order" and stressed that Russia had no intention of reversing its plans.^[29]

Although Moscow denies that a MiG-class fighter was involved in the incident, the Russian envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has suggested that a MiG-29 belonging to a NATO member might have downed the Georgian spy plane. In response, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has reportedly remarked that "he'd eat his tie if it turned out that a NATO MiG-29 had magically appeared in Abkhazia and shot down a Georgian drone."^[30]

On May 26, 2008, the U.N. mission released the conclusion of its independent investigation into the incident. It confirmed that the Georgian video footage and radar data were authentic and the jet which destroyed the drone was indeed Russian. The conclusion report said that the jet flew towards the Russian territory after the incident, but it was unclear where the attacker took off, naming the Gudauta base as a possible locality. The mission also noted that “a reconnaissance mission by a military aircraft, whether manned or unmanned, constituted “military action” and therefore contravened the ceasefire accord.^[31] Georgia hailed the report,^[32] but Russia dismissed it.^[33]

[edit] Military buildup in Abkhazia

The UAV incident triggered a new rise in tensions between the two countries. Russia accused Georgia of trying to exploit the NATO support to solve the Abkhazia problem by force and of sending its troops in the Georgia-controlled upper Kodori Valley in northeast Abkhazia. However, the U.N. monitors in Abkhazia stated earlier in April they did not observe any military buildup on either side of the demilitarization line. On April 29, Russia announced it would increase its military in the region and threatened to retaliate militarily to Georgia’s efforts. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, it has increased the number of its peacekeepers in Abkhazia to 2,542 peacekeepers, which is 458 short of the 3,000 limit set by agreement.^[34] The Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said Georgia would treat any additional troops in Abkhazia as aggressors while President Saakashvili, in his televised address, pledged to pursue only a peaceful line in the conflict areas and called upon the Abkhaz and Ossetians to unite with Georgia in defying attempts by “outrageous and irresponsible external force to trigger bloodshed”.^[35] The European Union also urged caution, saying to increase troop numbers would be "unwise" given current tensions, while the Unietd States has called on Russia “to reconsider some provocative steps” it had taken in respect of Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia.^[36] Georgia also suspended the talks regarding Russia's admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and threatened to veto the process.^[37] Georgian officials claim Russia is changing facts on the ground in order to make it impossible for NATO foreign ministers to give Georgia a Membership Action Plan when they meet in December 2008.^[38] In the meantime, the Russian Cossacks and North Caucasian mountaineers declared their readiness to fight Georgia again in the case of a renewed confrontation in Abkhazia as they did early in the 1990s.^[39] On May 6, 2008, the Georgian state minister for reintegration Temur Iakobashvili said Georgia was on the verge of war with Russia.^[40] Georgia requested from the U.N. mission to inquire into the number and deployment of the Russian peacekeeping troops in Abkhazia. Russian Ministry of Defense claimed that the chief U.N. observer "agreed that actions by the Russian side do not contradict basic agreements on the conduct of the peacekeeping operation", but the mission later responded to this statement, declaring that it "has no authority to pronounce on the conformity between the CIS peacekeeping operation in the Zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz Conflict and CIS rules."^[41]

Early in May 2008, both Russian and Abkhaz sides claimed that three more Georgian reconnaissance drones were shot over Abkhazia, and declared that Georgia was preparing to mount an offensive into the region in the near future. The Abkhaz foreign minister Sergei Shamba asked Russia to place Abkhazia under Russia's military control in exchange for security guarantees.^[42] Georgia denied these allegations, stating that it was "a provocation aimed at propagandistic support of Russia’s military intervention."^[43]

[edit] References

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