Article in EurActiv, 21.8.08

Members of the European Parliament gave strong backing to Georgia's foreign minister during her visit to Brussels yesterday (20 August), bashing Russia and urging the EU to send a peacekeeping force to replace that country's. In the meantime, Moscow announced the freezing of all contact with NATO in reaction to the alliance's strong criticism of Russia's actions in Georgia.

Speaking to the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, which had convened for an extraordinary session, Georgia's Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili accused Russia of "cheating" because it has shown no real sign of withdrawing its troops as had been agreed in the truce deal struck by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The deadline set for full withdrawal is tomorrow (22 August).

Reports from observers yesterday confirmed her remarks, saying Russia's troops were only partly withdrawing, while at the same they had seized other strategic spots and were maintaining a full blockade of Georgia's ports.

Close to tears, Tkeshelashvili also reported "ongoing executions and persecutions" by Russian forces, which she accused of "ethnic cleansing". Russia is clearly pursuing an "imperialist" policy aimed at destabilising Georgia and "reincarnating the lines of Europe and Russia's spheres of influence," she said.

EU-Russia partnership talks on hold?

A clear majority of MEPs - and particularly those from Eastern European countries which lived under Soviet occupation for more than 40 years - shared this position, calling for full solidarity with Georgia and a strong response towards Russia. They called for due consideration to be given to the possibility of putting talks on a new bilateral partnership agreement with Russia on hold if the latter does not live up to its commitments and withdraw its troops by the 22 August deadline.

Only a few parliamentarians, like German Socialist Klaus Hänsch, took a more balanced approach. He reminded colleagues that notwithstanding the "disproportionate" Russian response, the initial attack was launched by Georgia.

EU peacekeepers to replace Russian forces?

However, most MEPs responded positively to Tkeshelashvili's desire to see an EU peacekeeping force in South Ossetia, which should replace Russian troops. According to Tkeshelashvili, although Russian forces are only dressed as peacekeepers, they "undoubtedly have different intentions".

Asked whether she could envisage Russian approval of such a European force, she replied that Russia had "no legal or moral argument to obstruct a peacekeeping force on Georgian ground. Georgia is a sovereign state". The Foreign Affairs Committee is working on a resolution to be presented during the next plenary on 1 September and which should address this issue, its chairman Jacek Saryusz-Wolski declared after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Russia announced a freezing of all contact with NATO in response to the alliance's decision to suspend all political talks the day before (EurActiv 20/08/08).

Russia also put forward its own resolution for the situation in Georgia at the UN Security Council to counter the one introduced by France a day earlier. The US and European members of the council immediately rejected the draft, as it did not contain a reference to Georgia's territorial integrity.

Positions:
Georgia's Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili claimed that "the fate of Europe is now decided in Georgia". She accused Russia of "an imperialist policy" aimed at "reincarnating its spheres of influence".

In an attempt to underline her statement, she reminded MEPs of the so-called 'Prague Spring' 40 years ago. On 21 August 1968, Soviet troops invaded the former Czechoslovakia to curb any efforts by Czech citizens to loosen the grip of the Soviet regime on their country.

Upon their return from a delegation visit to Georgia, German EPP and foreign affairs committee member Elmar Brok and his colleague, the Austrian deputy chairman of the EPP-ED Group Othmar Karas, described Russia's actions as "totally unacceptable".

"The violation of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state and the destabilisation of democratic governments must not become the hallmark of a Russian foreign policy aiming at restoring the former Soviet Union," they stated. If this happens, Georgia would only be the beginning and other former CIS states would follow, they added.

Karas also criticised the "lacking presence" of EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and the Commission. Both also targeted the EU's visa policy, which they believe led to "more favourable treatment of Russia over Georgia and other states".

"Ideally, the priorities should have been set the other way round. Therefore, it is now even more important that the EU soon concludes a free-trade agreement with Georgia to give its citizens a perspective."

The Polish chairman of Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Socialist MEP Jacek Saryusz-Wolski, echoed the minister's remarks that the fate of Europe would be decided in Georgia, urging the EU to quickly find a common position to show solidarity with Georgia.

He also voiced the demand of many MEPs to send an EU peacekeeping mission to Georgia alongside an increase in humanitarian efforts. Furthermore, he called for all political channels to be frozen and "the whole spectrum of EU-Russia relations" to be revised if Russia does not withdraw all of its troops to their pre-war positions by tomorrow (22 August) as agreed in the truce struck by the French EU Presidency.

Lithuanian EPP-ED member Vytautas Landsbergis considered Georgia as "new Chechnya", while the British Liberal Andrew Duff wondered: "How could Saakashvili be so incredibly stupid to walk straight into the trap set for him by Mr Putin?"

Others, such as German MEP Tobias Pflüger of the Nordic Greens* said the debate was "one-sided" in putting all the blame on Russia. "The Russian response was certainly out of scale, but it appears to be overlooked that the initial attack was ordered by Georgia's President Saakashvili."

* Tobias Pflüger is member of the left group GUE/NGL (United European Left/Nordic Green Left).