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THE FIRST GEOPOLITICAL TEST FOR IVANISHVILI
Georgia Today , Georgia
Sept 12 2013
Print version
While Moscow was twisting Yerevan's hands on Armenia becoming a member
of the Eurasian Union, Georgia's Prime Minister responded twice to the
issue of joining. "Never say never" was the position of the Georgian
Prime Minister in Tbilisi, which was followed by his explanation in
Estonia of what he meant.
Once again, misunderstandings developed around Ivanishvili's
statements: he is in a position of constant self-defense. His statement
on the Eurasian Union was no exception in this regard.
In his statement on September 5, Ivanishvili said that the evaluations
of "some politicians" were "unusual" as from the day of his entrance
to politics, he had stated several times that integration to the
European Union and NATO is the cornerstone of Georgia's foreign policy.
"It seems that there are people who need an explanation about what
my statement meant yesterday. This is why I will state once again
that if the Eurasian Union had any compliance with our country's
interests without contradicting Georgia's pronounced core strategy;
we would discuss the issue in the future. And I will repeat: why not?!"
Ivanishvili writes in his statement.
On the previous day Ivanishvili was asked how interested Georgia was
in joining the Eurasian Union and the Prime Minister said: "As for the
Eurasian Union, I carefully watch and learn. On this stage we do not
have any position. If we see in the future that it can be interesting
for the strategy of our country, then why not. On the current stage,
we have no position."
The United National Movement strongly criticized his response and
used the chance to put the government in the position of self-defense.
The United National Movement members think that overall, Ivanishvili's
statements diminish not only the ruling coalition but Georgia as
a whole. "The fact that the Prime Minister does not have a clear
position on the Eurasian Union... I would like to remind him that
the idea of the Eurasian Union is Putin's instrument for stopping
Euro-Atlantic integration in Russia's neighboring countries, for
destroying the sovereignty and statehood of these countries and for
turning them into Russia's satellites. It is alarming if Georgia's
democratically elected government and its prime minister do not have
a clear position on an issue like that," Georgia's Security Council
Secretary Giga Bokeria said.
The endless process of self-defense on the side of the Prime Minister
was previously blamed on his surroundings, but now some analysts
blame it on Ivanishvili as well.
Independent political expert in Caucasus issues, Mamuka Areshidze, said
in an interview with the newspaper Qronika that Bidzina Ivanishvili
was not informed and this was due to his lifestyle.
"Somehow people think that Ivanishvili lies when he says things on
this or that topic, but he is not informed. He is truly not informed.
Unfortunately, this is not only because of the people surrounding him.
It is because of the lifestyle that he has developed during his 55
years," the expert said.
The misunderstanding that started in Tbilisi was continued in the
Baltics when the Prime Minister confused the association agreement
and membership to the European Union with each other. "The most
interesting was what happened yesterday.
"We learned that Georgia could continue working with the same
commission after November and we might receive the signature in the
near future for joining the European Union. It is very realistic
that in May next year we will sign the EU accession document,"
Ivanishvili said.
The United National Movement would not miss such a chance and they
immediately gave it a joke qualification. According to a member of the
parliamentary minority Davit Darchiashvili, it is the Prime Minister's
style to make such statements. "He has probably left out a few words
from the sentence. He sometimes omits words or changes them. The
Association Agreement and EU membership are totally different things.
This statement can be included in the list of joke statements. I repeat
that the association agreement is different than [EU] membership,"
Darchiashvili said.
Eurasian or European Union?
The choice between the two has been the main dilemma of Georgian
politics for the last 20 years. And it was confirmed once again.
According to Gia Volski, Chairman of the Interim Parliamentary
Committee on Restoration of Territorial Integrity, if the Eurasian
Union does not in contradiction with Georgia's integration into
European and Euro-Atlantic structures, then this issue can be a
subject of discussion.
"One should not be categorical and speculate with politics when we want
to characterize a global process and one should not be categorical
when in the next few days the state might need to discuss a certain
issue for the sake of its national security," Volski said.
So far three countries - Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are members
of the Eurasian Union. Recently, Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan
declared his verbal consent on joining the union. However, with
certain conditions, one of them being the opening of the railway line
via Abkhazia. In other words, Yerevan is asking the Kremlin to force
Georgia and Sokhumi to negotiate on restoring the railway without
any preconditions.
It is obvious that Yerevan is giving Moscow time until November, i.e.
the Vilnius Summit. If during that period Moscow manages to talk
Tbilisi into opening the railway line, then Armenia will sign
membership of the Eurasian Union and give up Europe. Otherwise, the
Eurasian Union will remain the union of three countries. Before that,
everything will depend on Tbilisi.
Thus, the Ivanishvili government should be very careful and determined
in order to avert the approaching threat to Georgia and pass the first
geopolitical test after winning last year's parliamentary elections.
http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=11451
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
Georgia Today , Georgia
Sept 12 2013
Print version
While Moscow was twisting Yerevan's hands on Armenia becoming a member
of the Eurasian Union, Georgia's Prime Minister responded twice to the
issue of joining. "Never say never" was the position of the Georgian
Prime Minister in Tbilisi, which was followed by his explanation in
Estonia of what he meant.
Once again, misunderstandings developed around Ivanishvili's
statements: he is in a position of constant self-defense. His statement
on the Eurasian Union was no exception in this regard.
In his statement on September 5, Ivanishvili said that the evaluations
of "some politicians" were "unusual" as from the day of his entrance
to politics, he had stated several times that integration to the
European Union and NATO is the cornerstone of Georgia's foreign policy.
"It seems that there are people who need an explanation about what
my statement meant yesterday. This is why I will state once again
that if the Eurasian Union had any compliance with our country's
interests without contradicting Georgia's pronounced core strategy;
we would discuss the issue in the future. And I will repeat: why not?!"
Ivanishvili writes in his statement.
On the previous day Ivanishvili was asked how interested Georgia was
in joining the Eurasian Union and the Prime Minister said: "As for the
Eurasian Union, I carefully watch and learn. On this stage we do not
have any position. If we see in the future that it can be interesting
for the strategy of our country, then why not. On the current stage,
we have no position."
The United National Movement strongly criticized his response and
used the chance to put the government in the position of self-defense.
The United National Movement members think that overall, Ivanishvili's
statements diminish not only the ruling coalition but Georgia as
a whole. "The fact that the Prime Minister does not have a clear
position on the Eurasian Union... I would like to remind him that
the idea of the Eurasian Union is Putin's instrument for stopping
Euro-Atlantic integration in Russia's neighboring countries, for
destroying the sovereignty and statehood of these countries and for
turning them into Russia's satellites. It is alarming if Georgia's
democratically elected government and its prime minister do not have
a clear position on an issue like that," Georgia's Security Council
Secretary Giga Bokeria said.
The endless process of self-defense on the side of the Prime Minister
was previously blamed on his surroundings, but now some analysts
blame it on Ivanishvili as well.
Independent political expert in Caucasus issues, Mamuka Areshidze, said
in an interview with the newspaper Qronika that Bidzina Ivanishvili
was not informed and this was due to his lifestyle.
"Somehow people think that Ivanishvili lies when he says things on
this or that topic, but he is not informed. He is truly not informed.
Unfortunately, this is not only because of the people surrounding him.
It is because of the lifestyle that he has developed during his 55
years," the expert said.
The misunderstanding that started in Tbilisi was continued in the
Baltics when the Prime Minister confused the association agreement
and membership to the European Union with each other. "The most
interesting was what happened yesterday.
"We learned that Georgia could continue working with the same
commission after November and we might receive the signature in the
near future for joining the European Union. It is very realistic
that in May next year we will sign the EU accession document,"
Ivanishvili said.
The United National Movement would not miss such a chance and they
immediately gave it a joke qualification. According to a member of the
parliamentary minority Davit Darchiashvili, it is the Prime Minister's
style to make such statements. "He has probably left out a few words
from the sentence. He sometimes omits words or changes them. The
Association Agreement and EU membership are totally different things.
This statement can be included in the list of joke statements. I repeat
that the association agreement is different than [EU] membership,"
Darchiashvili said.
Eurasian or European Union?
The choice between the two has been the main dilemma of Georgian
politics for the last 20 years. And it was confirmed once again.
According to Gia Volski, Chairman of the Interim Parliamentary
Committee on Restoration of Territorial Integrity, if the Eurasian
Union does not in contradiction with Georgia's integration into
European and Euro-Atlantic structures, then this issue can be a
subject of discussion.
"One should not be categorical and speculate with politics when we want
to characterize a global process and one should not be categorical
when in the next few days the state might need to discuss a certain
issue for the sake of its national security," Volski said.
So far three countries - Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are members
of the Eurasian Union. Recently, Armenia's President Serzh Sargsyan
declared his verbal consent on joining the union. However, with
certain conditions, one of them being the opening of the railway line
via Abkhazia. In other words, Yerevan is asking the Kremlin to force
Georgia and Sokhumi to negotiate on restoring the railway without
any preconditions.
It is obvious that Yerevan is giving Moscow time until November, i.e.
the Vilnius Summit. If during that period Moscow manages to talk
Tbilisi into opening the railway line, then Armenia will sign
membership of the Eurasian Union and give up Europe. Otherwise, the
Eurasian Union will remain the union of three countries. Before that,
everything will depend on Tbilisi.
Thus, the Ivanishvili government should be very careful and determined
in order to avert the approaching threat to Georgia and pass the first
geopolitical test after winning last year's parliamentary elections.
http://www.georgiatoday.ge/article_details.php?id=11451
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress