Paris, 18 December 2006 – The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Nino Burjanadze, on Monday delivered a stinging attack on Russia, accusing its giant neighbour of provocation, inciting ethnic cleansing, thwarting peace efforts in the southern Caucasus and striving to maintain a stranglehold over energy security.

Addressing the WEU Assembly, Mrs Burjanadze said the Russian Duma’s (Parliament’s) adoption of resolutions to legalise the recognition of independence from Georgia of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was “an extremely confrontational political action […] aimed at provoking the Georgian side, escalating the situation and hampering the process of conflict settlement.”

Georgia was ready to continue the dialogue with Russia, and to “give in on many issues,” she said. But it would not “compromise the territorial integrity, democratic choice or political orientation of our country”. She blamed Russia’s policy on its goal to achieve power through control over energy, and to impede diversification of oil supply routes through Georgia to Europe, which would be a “crucial element of future European energy security strategy”.

Russia’s attempts “to incorporate the territories of the small neighbouring states and to unilaterally change the borders are entirely incompatible with international legal standards and virtually rule out the possibility of establishing long-term cooperation with Russia as a reliable partner,” Mrs Burjanadze said.

Although it is formally a guarantor of the peace process as an objective and neutral mediator, it “acts as an instigator and supporter of the aggressive separatism,” and demonstrates again “the fairness of Georgia’s demand for the internationalisation of the conflict resolution process”, she went on.

She stressed that Georgia’s entry into NATO had “become a major foreign and security policy priority and a matter of societal consensus.” This was important both for Georgia’s reform and development, and for Europe’s battle against terrorism, drugs and arms trafficking and other international crimes, she said. Public opinion polls show that 75% of the population are in favour of NATO membership, indicating that the “choice of the Georgian people for democracy and integration into the Euro-Atlantic community is final and irreversible and can never be bargained”.

Endorsing Georgia’s criticism of Russia, WEU Assembly President Jean-Pierre Masseret said that the Assembly did “not approve of Russia’s posture,” and that the Assembly and member parliaments would remain “attentive” to developments and react accordingly. 

Georgia is cracking down on corruption, has achieved 9.3% real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2005, quadrupled its budget in three years, reduced taxes, and pinpointed the rule of law and an independent judiciary as key priorities for its emerging democracy, Mrs Burjanadze said. Its defence budget will rise to 3% of GDP in the years ahead from 2.45% in 2007, and the army “is considered by many experts to be the best trained and equipped” in the region, she said.