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TBILISI: President Dismisses Claims Over Larsi Reopening

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  • TBILISI: President Dismisses Claims Over Larsi Reopening

    PRESIDENT DISMISSES CLAIMS OVER LARSI REOPENING
    By Mzia Kupunia

    The Messenger
    March 3 2010
    Georgia

    Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has hailed the opening of
    Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border crossing point and downplayed criticism
    from some of his opponents that the opening of a land checkpoint with
    Russia could bear a danger for Georgia.

    "It will be the only legal border point on our territory [with Russia]
    and by reopening this the Russian side indirectly recognises that
    the total embargo policy, begun in 2005, has not been successful,"
    the President's press speaker Manana Manjgaladze said at a special
    press briefing on Tuesday. "The President thinks that it is better
    to have legal relations with Russia at least on this one section,
    to have a controlled state border where everything will be done
    according to the Georgian legislation," she added.

    The Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi checkpoint opened on March 1 after brief
    Armenian and Swiss-mediated negotiations between the Georgian and
    the Russian sides last year. The decision to reopen a border crossing
    point with Russia has met with a varied reaction in Georgian political
    circles. Opposition Christian Democratic Movement MPs have criticised
    the move, saying that the opening could endanger the residents of
    Kazbegi region due to "insufficient" security measures at the crossing
    point. Saakashvili's press speaker responded to these claims by saying
    that a closed border with armed guards at the checkpoint was a bigger
    threat than an open and legal border. "A tollbar has provided much
    less security than the open state border, secured with all means of
    control and all legal levers, did," Manjgaladze told journalists.

    Manjgaladze said that the statements of some opposition politicians
    and analysts that the Kazbegi region might share the same fate
    as the Akhalgori region are part of a "psychological war" aimed at
    influencing the Georgian population, investors and the development of
    the country in general. "As for the claims that Russia has towards
    Stepantsminda and Kobi-Gudauri, it should be noted that The Kremlin
    has the similar claims towards the whole of Georgia and its capital
    as well," Manjgaladze stated.

    The press speaker touched upon the issue of the Georgian-Russian
    relations, saying that reopening the land border with Russia does not
    mean improving relations with Moscow. "The negotiations were being
    held through the Swiss Embassy, which means they were not direct
    negotiations and do not imply an improvement in relations. It is hard
    to talk about there being any relations when the Russian Government
    does not recognise the democratically elected Government of Georgia,
    Georgia's state border or sovereignty and is trying to legitimise
    the creation of 500,000 IDPs and ethnic cleansing," Manjgaladze said.

    "Warming" and restoring relations with Moscow can only happen if
    Russia leaves Georgia's occupied territories, Manjgaladze quoted
    President Saakashvili as saying.

    Movement through the checkpoint has not been intensive so far,
    according to Russian officials. 6 people had crossed from both sides
    since it opened, RIA Novosti reported on March 2, based on information
    provided by the head of the Press Service of the Russian Federal
    Security Service's North Ossetian Border Department Alexander Solod.

    Two, citizens of Uzbekistan and Russia, crossed the border from the
    Georgian side, and the other four, citizens of Russia, Uzbekistan and
    Georgia, crossed from the Russian side, Solod said, according to RIA
    Novosti. An increase in the flow of people on the Russian-Georgian
    border is expected by May, according to the Russian Federal Security
    Service North Ossetian Border Department officials.
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