Georgia PM told to heal domestic rift

The European Union and Nato have told new Georgian prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili not to persecute allies of president Mikheil Saakashvili, as Tbilisi’s leaders brought their bitter power struggle to Europe.

On his first foreign visit as premier in Brussels yesterday, Mr Ivanishvili stressed his commitment to leading Georgia towards membership of the EU and Nato. He met senior EU officials and will hold talks with Nato chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen tomorrow.

Mr Saakashvili pre-empted his rival, however, by going to Prague to meet Mr Rasmussen yesterday at a gathering of Nato’s parliamentary assembly. From the Czech capital he will travel to Brussels to hold talks with leading EU figures.

Mr Ivanishvili, a billionaire tycoon, became premier after his Georgian Dream coalition won October’s parliamentary election.

After a poisonous election campaign, Mr Saakashvili now accuses Mr Ivanishvili of launching a purge against his allies, following the arrest on abuse-of-power charges of a former government minister and two top generals.

Mr Rasmussen said he was pleased that government power had changed hands peacefully in Georgia following widespread fear of mass protests and potential violence.

“But there’s no reason to hide that I’m extremely concerned about the developments we have seen since then, not least related to recent arrests of political opponents in Georgia,” he said. “It’s for the legal system . . . to sort out these cases. But . . . it’s important that such trials are not undermined by political interference.”

European Commission chief José Manuel Barroso stressed to Mr Ivanishvili that democracy “is also the day after and the upholding of democratic principles . . . on a daily basis”.

Mr Barroso said the Georgian premier, who is his country’s richest man, had “responded in a very constructive way”to EU encouragement to “maintain a constructive and responsible political atmosphere” in dealings with Mr Saakashvili, who has almost a year left to serve as president.

Mr Ivanishvili said his government would seek to “accelerate our aspiration of achieving our ultimate goal, which is integration into the European family.”