The Russian president has promised never to backtrack on the decision to recognise the independence of breakaway regions of Georgia
PRESIDENT DMITRY Medvedev has vowed that Russia will never reverse its decision to recognise the independence of two separatist regions of Georgia, one year after a war that he says will lead to the downfall of Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili.
Mr Medvedev visited troops at a Caucasus military base who fought in the five-day conflict, while the breakaway province of South Ossetia mourned its dead, hailed its self-declared sovereignty and opened a museum in its battle-scarred capital to record what it calls Georgia’s attempt at genocide.
“Last year’s events have finally redrawn the political map of the Caucasus,” Mr Medvedev said on his visit to a volatile region that Russia sees as part of its rightful “sphere of influence”, and which is at the heart of EU plans to reduce its energy dependence on Moscow.
“The recognition of South Ossetia’s and Abkhazia’s independence was the only possible solution. This decision will not be reviewed,” he told Russia’s 58th army, which led Russia’s crushing response to Georgia’s bid to retake control of South Ossetia.
“Recognition was a difficult step. Until now there are illusions among some of our international partners that this was a temporary decision, that Russia is manoeuvring, that it can be forced into giving up recognition . . . There will be no backtracking,”
Only Nicaragua has joined Russia in recognising South Ossetia and Abkhazia, regions controlled by Moscow-backed separatists since brief but bloody wars in the early 1990s. Both areas are now home to thousands of Kremlin troops, and local and Russian authorities refuse to allow EU monitors on to their territory. Despite coming under fierce criticism from the West during and immediately after the war, Mr Medvedev insisted that it has “not complicated our relations with the international community” and has enhanced Russia’s reputation as a resurgent power. “The situation in the world and the attitude to Russia have changed,” he said.
“Only a strong state can ensure a normal life for its citizens. Weak states disappear from the world map. Russia must be strong.” The war killed about 400 people, injured thousands and has left some 30,000 displaced Georgians living in hastily built “refugee villages” around the country. It also badly damaged Georgia’s economy, set back its hopes for membership of Nato and undermined Mr Saakashvili’s reputation with western powers that see him as their closest ally in the Caucasus.
“I am certain that, in time, just and severe punishment, severe retribution, will come to those people who issued the criminal orders” to attack South Ossetia, Mr Medvedev said in reference to the Georgian leader, before criticising allies like the US for “arming and, unfortunately, continuing to arm the Tbilisi regime”.
In the rubble-strewn South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali people held a candle-light vigil and watched separatist leader Eduard Kokoity open a genocide museum.
“The goal of the operation was the destruction and exile of the South Ossetian people,” said Mr Kokoity. “South Ossetian fighters courageously thwarted Tbilisi’s plans for a blitzkrieg. Russian troops came to the rescue of South Ossetia and pushed the bloodthirsty enemy back.” He also accused EU monitors of behaving in a “criminal” manner by failing to prevent an alleged build-up of Georgian forces near its disputed border with South Ossetia. Tbilisi and the monitors, who include five Irish staff, deny such claims.
“Georgia’s military potential today is now much higher than it was before August 2008,” Mr Kokoity said. “But . . . today, at our request, Russian military bases are here. They are a reliable guarantee of peace and stability.”
Georgia’s own commemoration events culminated in a speech by Mr Saakashvili in Gori, birthplace of Josef Stalin, which was bombed and occupied by Russian soldiers last year.
“We want to defeat the invaders, but not by another war. We want to defeat them by peacefully strengthening our democratic institutions, by constantly developing our economy, by getting closer and closer to the European Union,” he said.
“Thanks to our western friends, Russia faces a complete diplomatic defeat and practically every single country on Earth has remained committed to Georgia’s territorial integrity.”