July 24, 2009
Biden Pledges Support for Georgia, but Warns Against Militarism
By REUTERS
TBILISI, Georgia (Reuters) — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Thursday pledged the Obama administration’s full support for Georgia a year after its war with Russia, and he urged Moscow to abide by a cease-fire pact and pull its troops back from two Georgian breakaway territories.
Mr. Biden called on the world not to follow Russia in recognizing the territories, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as independent states. But he also warned the Georgian parliament in a speech that there was no valid military option for winning them back — an implied reference to Georgia’s military buildup and assault into South Ossetia before the war, and to subsequent Georgian requests for American help in rearming.
Tensions between Russia and Georgia, a former Soviet republic, have been on the rise ahead of the first anniversary of their five-day war in August 2008. Hours before Mr. Biden’s speech on Thursday, Russia vowed to prevent Georgia from rearming and threatened nations who helped it with weapons. That was a direct shot at the United States, who trained Georgia’s military and has been a staunch ally.
Although Mr. Biden made no reference to any potential for rearming Georgia’s military, and despite his warning about choosing a military path against its breakaway regions, his speech was dominated by vows of support.
“We, the United States stand by you on your journey to a secure, free, democratic and once again united Georgia,” Mr. Biden said to rapturous applause. “We will not recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states and we urge the world not to recognize them as independent states.”
He called on Russia to honor its commitments under last year’s cease-fire agreement, “including the withdrawal of all forces to their pre-conflict positions and ultimately out of your territorial area.”
Mr. Biden balanced his support with a plea to Georgia to improve its democracy and to seek the right constitutional balance between its parliament and its presidency — coded criticism of President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgia is pushing for American monitors and weapons to help defend itself against what it says is a threat from Russian troops stationed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, at their nearest point just 30 miles from Tbilisi, the capital.
“We are a country under attack, under partial occupation,” Mr. Saakashvili said before talks with Biden. “We decided to join the free world, Europe, the North Atlantic alliance.”
In a broadside issued as the meeting began, Russia said it would take “concrete measures” to prevent Georgia from rearming.
“We will continue to prevent the re-arming of Saakashvili’s regime and will take concrete measures against this,” Russia’s ITAR-TASS agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin as saying in an interview.
Mr. Karasin also accused certain unnamed states of hiding military cooperation with Georgia “under the guise of humanitarian aid” — an apparent reference to the United States, which has been sending Tbilisi humanitarian supplies.
The Georgian deputy foreign minister, Giga Bokeria, said the government would stick to the terms of the cease-fire and a pledged not to use force. He added: “We are a sovereign country and as any other sovereign country we have the right to self-defense. No other country can interfere in our domestic choices.”
Mr. Saakashvili also thanked President Obama for telling Russia on a recent visit that his administration would not allow any big power to claim particular regions as special areas of influence. “His talk about not allowing in today’s world, in the 21st century, any spheres of influence, was music to our ears,” Mr. Saakashvili said.
Analysts say it is unclear how far Obama is prepared to go in supporting Georgia without undermining cooperation with Moscow on a host of issues from arms control to the war in Afghanistan.
Georgia’s NATO accession, in particular, has been shelved for the foreseeable future in the wake of the war and amid unease among some European states about Mr. Saakashvili’s unpredictability and checkered record on democracy.
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