Press Digest 02.06.2014

By meeting with the leaders of the three states Merkel must have warned Russia not to move against Georgia by in any way thwarting it in completing the landmark deal – Vakhtang Dzabiradze

"I do cast doubt on the fact that Russia will calmly look on at how Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova are moving closer to Europe. On the contrary, I think that the Russian leader will exert a quadrupled effort to pull the three states back to its orbit by placing different obstacles on their path to the European Union… In my mind, the present status quo strongly suggests that Russia will stop at nothing on earth to throw the Gardabani region into disarray,” maintains expert Vakhtang Dzabiradze in his interview with the Kvisris Palitra gazette.

“The present state of play does not really give us a foundation to hold Russia accountable for the current goings-on in the Gardabani region; however, we also cannot exclude that precisely Russia has tried to throw the region into disorder. I also cannot rule out that some cliques of Georgians and Azerbaijanis are vying for superpowers there. We do also know that the former Government hobnobs with those people that have an overarching influence on the Azerbaijan population. Against this backdrop, we can deduce that now they are endeavoring to maintain their privileged status in the region. I must also underscore that today when the Georgian and Azerbaijan authorities have built up amiable relations, these clashes and confrontations do not suit either of the governments,” asserts Mr. Dzabiradze.

“If some shadowy figures are attempting to whip up tensions and escalate the situation on this territory, the Georgian as well as the Azerbaijan top officials must redouble their efforts to diffuse the crises by preventing the conflict from becoming large-scale. We must get hold of those powers who are trying to stir the situation here. The shadowy figures that might be infiltrated into the region by a third country – a trace of which has not been detected yet – must be aiming to incite a rift between the people and only after this are they supposed to try to spark a conflict… Thus, our Government must make a strenuous effort to de-escalate the situation by eliminating all hotbeds of conflicts in Gardabani,” states the respondent.

“Irakli Gharibashvili’s visit to Germany must be linked to Georgia’s future integration within NATO; however, I do not rule out that within the visit, they touched upon the issue of NATO. I do not think that the West is geared up to take any radical step in this direction at this point in time. It would be reasonable to remind our reader of the fact that the EU rolled out a set of new sanctions against Russia, as soon as the latter recognized the Ukrainian President and its election outcome as legitimate. From this it follows that the Western states are handling Russia with kid gloves and they are expected to take even more careful and heedful steps when it comes to NATO-Russia relations. By meeting with the leaders of the three states Merkel must have warned Russia not to move against Georgia by in any way blocking it from signing the 27 May deal,” announces the expert.

“If thus far we have needed NATO to ensure our security, today our well-being and safety is directly interlinked with that of NATO. As for Russia, I doubt that, today this country is geared up to counter the NATO states; Russia simply lacks any kind of recourses to take this step,” concludes the respondent.