Georgia: Georgia-Russia conflict - full text
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On Oct.1, EU observers began to patrol Georgian territory under a peacekeeping deal aimed at restraining Russian operations in the region, in compliance with the ceasefire agreement reached on Sept. 8, after the Georgian-Russian war in August.
Immediate Context
After months of growing tension between Georgia, Russia, and the two Russian-backed breakaway Georgian republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, war broke out in South Ossetia on Aug. 7-8. Late on Aug. 7, Georgian forces reportedly launched an artillery barrage on Tskhinvali (the capital of South Ossetia). According to the Russian defence ministry, Russian forces then entered South Ossetia in the early hours of Aug. 8 to reinforce existing Russian peacekeepers in the republic and to protect Russian citizens there. However, some reports claimed that the Russian forces had moved into South Ossetia on the evening of Aug. 7, shortly before the Georgian attack on Tskhinvali.
After a few days of fighting, Georgian forces were defeated in South Ossetia and Russian troops moved into Georgia proper, attacking military bases and occupying strategic areas. Both sides signed an EU ceasefire plan in mid-August and by the end of the month Russia had withdrawn from much of Georgia, although its troops remained in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and in a self-declared "zone of responsibility" surrounding the separatist enclaves.
The short war between Russian, Georgian, and South Ossetian forces resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians. Both Georgian and Russian forces were accused of using indiscriminate and disproportionate force. After the initial Georgian shelling of Tskhinvali, Russia accused Georgia of "genocide", claiming that 2,000 people had been killed. Later, in a number of reported cases, convoys of civilians fleeing conflict zones in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Georgia appeared to have been targeted directly. After Georgian forces were pushed back by Russian troops, ethnic Ossetian militias looted and burned the homes of ethnic Georgians in both South Ossetia and in the Gori district of Georgia, killing a number of ethnic Georgian residents.
The Georgian government broke off diplomatic relations with Russia on Aug. 29, and Russia responded reciprocally. On Sept. 8, French President Nicolas Sarkozy brokered an agreement in which the Russian forces agreed on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the buffer zone established around South Ossetia and Abkhazia, within 10 days of EU monitors being deployed in the region.
Reaction and Outlook
In a nationally televised address on Aug. 26, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that it was clear that the separatists could never again live together with Georgians. Recognition of the separatist regions, he said, had not been an easy choice, but it was the only way to save lives.
The reaction to the August war from the West was swift. The Russian recognition of the independence of the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia provoked strong criticism from the USA and the EU. Speaking on a trip to the Middle East, US Secretary of State Rice described the move as "regrettable" and warned that any attempt to secure wider recognition at the UN "will be dead on arrival".
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking from Estonia also on Aug. 26, said that the Russian decision was "a violation of the principle of territorial integrity" and was "absolutely unacceptable". President Saakashvili said that Russia was trying to "annex" a sovereign country and described the move as "a test for the entire world and a test for our collective solidarity".
On Sept. 8, Sarkozy said that if the withdrawal of Russian troops from the buffer zone was successful, it would allow the resumption of talks between the EU and Russia on a new partnership agreement.
On Sept. 30, Russian military officials indicated that they would not immediately allow any of the 300 EU observers to enter the buffer zone around South Ossetia, raising concerns that the Russian authorities were stalling on withdrawing troops from the region. However, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Oct. 1 that EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana Madariaga's spokeswoman had confirmed that the deployment of the EU monitors was proceeding smoothly.
Historical Context
Inhabited since prehistoric times, the area had been occupied by such powers as the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Seljuks, Mongols, Ottomans, and Safarid Iranians, with a Georgian identity nevertheless surviving. In 1801 most of present-day Georgia became part of the Russian empire, when Tsar Paul I of Russia effectively annexed the country. Georgia briefly reclaimed its independence in 1918, but was invaded by the Soviet Union's Red Army in February 1921. A puppet government was installed, with Georgia eventually being incorporated into the Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR) with Armenia and Azerbaijan, before becoming the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) in 1936.
On April 9, 1991, following support for independence in a referendum, the Georgian Supreme Soviet (the unicameral legislature) declared the "restoration of state independence" . Similar declarations by other SSRs precipitated the dissolution of the Soviet Union on Dec. 21, 1991.
Tension quickly escalated between newly independent Georgia and Russia, largely concerning control of the Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, where there were significant pro-Russian separatist movements. Abkhazia had attempted to assert its independence in August 1990. Fighting broke out between Georgian troops and Abkhazian separatists in September 1992, threatening to draw Georgia into conflict with Russia. A Georgian-Abkhaz ceasefire agreement was established in July 1993, with Russia agreeing to send troops to Abkhazia as neutral peacekeepers.
In October 2001 renewed fighting broke out in Abkhazia in response to Georgia's growing opposition to the presence of Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia. Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that Russia would not be drawn into a war with Georgia and was prepared to withdraw the Russian peacekeepers. However, tension remained high between the two countries, with Russia accusing Georgia of harbouring rebels from the southern Russian republic of Chechnya.
Relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate. In January 2006, Saakashvili accused Russia of "sabotage" after a series of gas pipeline blasts left large areas of Georgia and Armenia without energy .
In February 2006, Georgia's Parliament approved a non-binding resolution claiming Russia was attempting to "annex" South Ossetia and calling on President Saakashvili to ensure the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from South Ossetia and their replacement by an international force.
During August 2006, the Georgian government alleged that Russia had violated Georgian airspace three times during the month, then in September, Georgia arrested four Russian intelligence officers on spying charges. Deputy Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili stated that the four army officers had been planning a "serious provocation" and had shown a particular interest in "Georgia's defence capability". In October 2006, in the wake of the arrests, Russia began to impose severe sanctions against Georgia as well as Georgian citizens and businesses in Russia.
In September 2007, an investigation undertaken by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) concluded that an envoy should be appointed to deal with the escalating tension between the two countries.
