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Georgia's president says country not preparing to leave ex-Soviet alliance
By MIKE ECKEL
.c The Associated Press
KAZAN, Russia (AP) - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on
Saturday said his country was not preparing to leave the loose
12-member alliance of ex-Soviet states despite its problems.
Speaking at a news conference one day after a summit of leaders from
the 12-nation Commonwealth of Independent States, Saakashvili also
tried to reassure other members that a recent declaration he made
along with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was not intended as a
``democratic test for any nation.''
Saakashvili acknowledged the CIS has problems, underscored by the
leaders' apparent failure to agree on substantial reforms to
reinvigorate the commonwealth - a trade and political association
formed after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country dominates
the CIS, made only passing reference to a ``package of measures'' to
increase cooperation, gave no details and took no questions from
reporters at a post-summit news conference.
The summit came amid new signs that the peaceful revolutions in
Ukraine and Georgia, which brought pro-Western leaders to power, were
threatening to pull the group apart.
Earlier this month, Saakashvili and Yushchenko called for a new
regional alliance to champion democracy in the former Soviet
states. The Commonwealth of Democratic Choice, the two leaders said,
would ``help usher in a new era of democracy, security, stability and
peace across Europe, from the Atlantic to the Caspian Sea.''
Georgia and Ukraine have made membership in the European Union and
NATO priorities, and Moldova has taken a sharp Westward turn. Moscow's
ties with all three countries consequently have deteriorated.
The Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan also saw a new administration
come to power after mass demonstrations.
Saakashvili said Georgia was not intending to pull out of the CIS, and
he defended his and Yushchenko's statement, known as the Borzhomi
declaration after the Georgian spa where the two met.
``We have not created any sort of democratic test for any nation,''
Saakashvili said. ``This is a declaration of two leaders of friendly,
democratic nations who are trying to build open societies of a
European type.
``And any other state which is located in the Baltic, Black or Baltic
sea regions which intends to follow this path can participate,'' he
said, adding that the main requirement was to conduct free and
democratic elections.
Georgia's relations with Russia have turned prickly since
Saakashvili's rise to the presidency following the 2003 mass
demonstrations known as the Rose Revolution. Saakashvili has
cultivated warm ties with Yushchenko and U.S. President George
W. Bush praised the country during a visit to Tbilisi in May.
Georgia's relations with Belarus - another CIS member - have also
soured. Saakashvili on Saturday demanded that Belarusian authorities
release two Georgian activists accused of teaching their Belarusian
counterparts to stage anti-government protests similar to Georgia's
Rose Revolution.
Belarusian security officials said Friday they would deport the two
Georgians, who were detained Wednesday and accused of ``conducting
training on organizing acts of civil disobedience accompanied by mass
disorder similar to the ... revolution in Georgia.''
The other six CIS members are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
08/27/05 04:07 EDT
By MIKE ECKEL
.c The Associated Press
KAZAN, Russia (AP) - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on
Saturday said his country was not preparing to leave the loose
12-member alliance of ex-Soviet states despite its problems.
Speaking at a news conference one day after a summit of leaders from
the 12-nation Commonwealth of Independent States, Saakashvili also
tried to reassure other members that a recent declaration he made
along with Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was not intended as a
``democratic test for any nation.''
Saakashvili acknowledged the CIS has problems, underscored by the
leaders' apparent failure to agree on substantial reforms to
reinvigorate the commonwealth - a trade and political association
formed after the 1991 Soviet collapse.
On Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country dominates
the CIS, made only passing reference to a ``package of measures'' to
increase cooperation, gave no details and took no questions from
reporters at a post-summit news conference.
The summit came amid new signs that the peaceful revolutions in
Ukraine and Georgia, which brought pro-Western leaders to power, were
threatening to pull the group apart.
Earlier this month, Saakashvili and Yushchenko called for a new
regional alliance to champion democracy in the former Soviet
states. The Commonwealth of Democratic Choice, the two leaders said,
would ``help usher in a new era of democracy, security, stability and
peace across Europe, from the Atlantic to the Caspian Sea.''
Georgia and Ukraine have made membership in the European Union and
NATO priorities, and Moldova has taken a sharp Westward turn. Moscow's
ties with all three countries consequently have deteriorated.
The Central Asian state of Kyrgyzstan also saw a new administration
come to power after mass demonstrations.
Saakashvili said Georgia was not intending to pull out of the CIS, and
he defended his and Yushchenko's statement, known as the Borzhomi
declaration after the Georgian spa where the two met.
``We have not created any sort of democratic test for any nation,''
Saakashvili said. ``This is a declaration of two leaders of friendly,
democratic nations who are trying to build open societies of a
European type.
``And any other state which is located in the Baltic, Black or Baltic
sea regions which intends to follow this path can participate,'' he
said, adding that the main requirement was to conduct free and
democratic elections.
Georgia's relations with Russia have turned prickly since
Saakashvili's rise to the presidency following the 2003 mass
demonstrations known as the Rose Revolution. Saakashvili has
cultivated warm ties with Yushchenko and U.S. President George
W. Bush praised the country during a visit to Tbilisi in May.
Georgia's relations with Belarus - another CIS member - have also
soured. Saakashvili on Saturday demanded that Belarusian authorities
release two Georgian activists accused of teaching their Belarusian
counterparts to stage anti-government protests similar to Georgia's
Rose Revolution.
Belarusian security officials said Friday they would deport the two
Georgians, who were detained Wednesday and accused of ``conducting
training on organizing acts of civil disobedience accompanied by mass
disorder similar to the ... revolution in Georgia.''
The other six CIS members are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
08/27/05 04:07 EDT