The myth that joining Nato will threaten Georgia’s territorial integrity is baseless

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The five national issues most important for Georgian people have not changed for a long time – alongside healthcare, unemployment and economic challenges citizens always mention the problem of territorial integrity as well. For years Russian propaganda has been spreading the notion that Euro-Atlantic integration will force Georgia to abandon restoring its territorial integrity. This specific example for a false dilemma has become particularly relevant after opening of the NATO-Georgia training base. Georgian promoters of the Russian propaganda are claiming that the only way to restore territorial integrity is to “normalize relations” with Russia as well as if Georgia rejects Euro-Atlantic integration, Russia will give Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region back to Georgia.

Russian propaganda is attempting to connect European integration to the abandonment of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region. In fact, all NATO and EU member states support Georgia’s territorial integrity and condemn the Russian occupation. Unlike Russia, members of both organizations are working with their partners all over the world, so that the number of countries that recognize the occupied territories as independent states does not grow.

Modern history of Georgia proves that territorial integrity of our country is threatened by only one state – Russia. During the last 25 years 11 000 Georgian citizens lost their lives fighting Russian military forces. Russia openly supported escalation of conflicts in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region, and after fighting started openly took part in the battle.

From 1993 to 2008 Russia had the status of peacekeeper under the CIS mandate, but with its direct support regimes in Sokhumi and Tskhinvali continues to oppress ethnic Georgian populations. Both before and after the war of 2008 Russia openly interfered in selection of the proxy regimes’ leaders. Both proxy regimes still live off Russia’s finances and the main source of their income has been money from Moscow ever since the 1990s. Every years Moscow spends billions of rubles to keep proxy regimes functioning.The so called education reform in Abkhazia was conducted with Russia’s direct participation. As a result, Georgians were deprived of their right to study at schools in their native Georgian language

After the fighting was over, Russia did not let either Georgia or international community to give temporary legal status to the people still living in Abkihazia and Tskhinvali Region – since 1994 25-30 Russian passports have been distributed in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region. Then, under the formal pretext of protection of Russian citizens, Russia did everything to hinder peaceful negotiations prior to the war of 2008.

The hottest point in the 25-year history of hostility is the war of 2008. Seven years ago Russia did not manage to play the role of a peacekeeper and openly entered the conflict as its participant. Aggression of the Russian soldiers was followed by the international efforts of the Russian diplomatsto achieve recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states by as many countries as possible. Russian Foreign Ministry was looking for the countries that would be ready to make such a decision all over the world. Today, only three countries besides recognize territories of Georgia as independent countries – Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru.Tuvalu also was among such countries, but this state took its recognition back.

Of these three countries, two – Venezuela and Nicaragua – have Marxist regimes, while the third is a dwarf republic, whose main source of income until recently had been phosphate made of bird excrements. After this resource ran out, Nauru began to trade with recognitions, for instance it received 130 million dollars from China in return for taking back recognition of Taiwan.

It cost Russia 3.25 billion dollars to gain recognition from these countries. Russia paid 2.2 billion dollars to Venezuela, 1 billion dollars to Nicaragua, and 50 million dollars to Nicaragua.

Thus, amount of money paid by Russia for recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is 22.9 dollars per capita.And if Russia gave this money to the present residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, each of them would receive 11,364 dollars.

Moscow explains the lack of countries ready to recognize the occupied territories by the Western pressure, and, in the best Soviet tradition, talk about the violence of American imperialism. Billions of dollars spent in Latin America and Oceania are nothing for the Russian political elite wishing to separate Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region from Georgia as much as possible.

During the last 25 years Georgia had a number of leaders – individuals with different ideologies, objectives and past, but what Zviad Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze, Mikheil Saakashvili and Bidzina Ivanishvili have in common is the attempt and failure of each of them to normalize relations with Russia. There was a number of leaders in Moscow too – Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin, very different individuals as well – have been waging the same hostile policy towards Georgia. Each of these three Russian leaders contributed to the occupation of Georgian territories.

The first effort of all leaders of Georgia after coming to power was to normalize relations with Russia– Zviad Gamsakhurdia invited Boris Yeltsin to Kazbegi, Georgia in 1991 and got a promise from the Russian president that Russia would support territorial integrity of Georgia. Of course, Yeltsin never fulfilled this promise. Soon after this meeting Russian forces provoked wars in Tskhinvali Region and Abkhazia and themselves took part in battles against Georgian army.

Unlike Soviet dissident Gamsakhurdia, Eduard Shevardnadze was a member of the highest level of the nomenklatura, but it was him whom Russians betrayed in the midst of peace negotiations and launched ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia. Hundreds of thousands of Georgians had to flee from their homes as a result. In the years that followed, Russians also were behind three attempts to assassinate Shevardnadze.

Mikheil Saakashvili was not a Soviet dissident, nor did he anger the Russian generals by destroying the Berlin wall.Despite this, attempt of the third Georgian president to improve relations with Russia was met with strengthening Russian spy network in Georgia, open support to Aslan Abashidze’s regime in Adjara, and increasing numbers of Russian soldiers in the occupied territories.

After the change of government in 2012, despite efforts of the new Georgian government to normalize relations with Russia, the latter did not stop wither creeping occupation of additional Georgian land or abductions of Georgian civilians by Russian soldiers.Moreover, Moscow concluded agreements with Sokhumi and Tskhinvali proxy regimes that help their eventual annexation by Russia.

Efforts of the pro-Russian forces to present Russian aggression as only a response to Georgia’s European integration defy common sense and logic.Russia did no and does not care about Georgia’s foreign orientation.What Moscow does care about is that Georgia does not escape the Russian sphere of influence like the Baltic states managed to do. Abkhazia and South Ossetia is seen in Kremlin as Damocles’ sword over Georgia’s head, of which this country must never be free. Obviously, the observation of American diplomat and historian George Kennan that Russia can only have an enemy or a slave as its neighbor is still true. Naturally, it is not in Georgia’s interest to be either enemy or slave of Russia, but Georgia cannot change the reality of Russia’s attitude. The fact remains that neither Soviet Union nor Russian Federation have ever dared to conduct such aggressive policy against any NATO member state.Thus, the only road to Georgia’s development and protecting territorial integrity goes through Euro-Atlantic integration.

Violation: Disinformation
Country: NATO
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