President of Georgia does not believe in military conflict with Russia

Saakashvili's visit to Finland includes stop on Åland Islands

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President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who is currently on a state visit to Finland, does not believe in a military conflict in the Caucasus, despite the fact that Georgia’s relationship with Russia has deteriorated severely.
      Saakashvili acknowledges that last year the two countries were "very close to a conflict". Relations with Russia tightened close to breaking point after Georgia deported Russians that it accused of spying.
      "For any Russian politician it would be a political suicide to start a large-scale military conflict in the Caucasus", Saakashvili explained in a joint press conference with the Finnish President Tarja Halonen. The Georgian head of state based his view on the "destructive" war that Russia is currently conducting in Chechnya.
      "Everybody has learned that the use of military force is futile."
      All in all, Saakashvili spoke of Russia with words of détente. He gave the assurance that the Georgian people do not bear anti-Russian sentiments.
      Saakashvili also copiously thanked Finland, the EU President from last year, for acting as a mediator in the dispute between Georgia and Russia. Last autumn Russia, for instance, deported some Georgian citizens and interrupted transport connections between the two countries.
      A dud missile that fell into Georgia last August added to the strife. Georgia blamed Russia for the incident.
     
Some of the issues that have caused friction between Russia and the significantly smaller Georgia include the position of the Georgian autonomous areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The leaders of these areas are Russophiles at heart and cultivate separatist tendencies.
      To find some solutions to these internal problems Saakashvili will today [Friday] be visiting Finland’s semi-autonomous Åland Islands. According to the Office of the President of the Republic of Finland, the visit to the Åland Islands was organised particularly to accommodate a request by the Georgians.
     
Territorial disputes and problems with Russia also threaten to complicate Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO.
      Last week the French Minister of Defence Hervé Morin said he would object to Georgia’s membership if Russia interprets the joining in as a threat.
      Later the NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer nevertheless emphasised that Russia does not have the right to prevent a nation from joining NATO.
      Saakashvili said he was optimistic about Georgia’s chances of being accepted into the NATO accession programme. "Most NATO member states stand firmly behind our pursuit of membership."


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Halonen in Georgia hopes for settlement in Abkhazia and South Ossetia (29.9.2005)

Links:
  Speech by President of the Republic Tarja Halonen at the Banquet for the Official Visit of Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, 11 October 2007
  Mikheil Saakashvili (Wikipedia)
  South Ossetia (Wikipedia)
  Abkhazia (Wikipedia)

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