In the summer of 2008, a five-day war broke out between Russia and the former Soviet Republic of Georgia over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. A decade later, the issue is still unresolved, while Tbilisi’s dream of closer EU ties and Nato membership seems more elusive than ever. Keith Micallef visited the EU’s monitoring mission in Tbilisi and met Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili.
A young couple with a three-year-old child wait in scorching heat at a Georgian police checkpoint along the so-called administrative boundary lines in South Ossetia in the hope of getting a chance to meet their relatives on the other side.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili.This opportunity is a privilege only about 5,000 ethnic Georgians enjoy, and the temporary permit can be revoked any time. Anyone caught trespassing is fined, and repeat offenders risk jail or even their lives. The situation is reminiscent of Berlin at the peak of the Cold War, families and entire communities having found themselves separated overnight following the brief war in August 2008.
Members of the EU monitoring mission are watching closely. Established in September 2008, they are no peacekeeping force but an unarmed civilian monitoring mission of about 200 scattered across the country. Their terms of operation are strictly to see that both sides comply with the EU-brokered, six-point agreement of August 12, 2008, and to report any incidents to either side. In other words, they consider themselves to be a reliable hotline between the two sides.
However, the mission is being hindered as the de facto authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have denied the mission access to territories under their control.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili is adamant that Russia is openly embarking on a mission to re-establish its influence in the former Soviet republics.
“This is a clear act of aggression,” he said in an hour-long meeting with EU journalists at the Presidential Palace in Tbilisi. He insists Georgia was just the start of this “policy”, followed by the annexation of Crimea, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and the escalation of tension with the Baltic States.
“If we accept the fact that nation States start fragmenting, this will lead to greater catastrophe,” he warns.
Yet despite its pro-West approach and continuous efforts to forge closer ties with the EU and join Nato, there is growing frustration that the major international players are turning their back on Georgia. While EU membership for now is a very distant milestone, in the case of Nato the process seems to have stalled.
Despite the commitment made during the 2008 Nato summit in Bucharest that Georgia would be joining the military bloc, it has yet to materialise.
Despite its pro-West approach and continuous efforts to forge closer ties with the EU and join Nato, there is growing frustration that the major international players are turning their back on Georgia
The Georgian government insists the promise will be kept, but the population seems to realise that Nato is very wary of embracing a new member whose territory is 20 per cent occupied by Russia.
Many fear Georgia’s entry could escalate tensions and possibly lead to direct confrontation between the US and Russia.
Mr Margvelashvili insists that this argument holds no water and is only one of several “myths” being spread by the Russians through an orchestrated “fake news campaign”. Nato’s presence in West Berlin during the Cold War is a historic precedent, he says.
Recent opinion polls suggest that support for closer EU integration is declining.
While the President says the pro-EU camp enjoys about 70 per cent support, he acknowledges that if the country does not counteract “Russian fake news”, the scenario might change.
He claims that recent fears that Nato membership will never happen and that closer EU ties will damage national identity are being fuelled by Russian television, the main source of information for the Azeri and Armenian minorities.
Such ideas find fertile ground among some of the elderly, who for some reason, still harbour nostalgia for the Soviet era.
Another development of concern is the rise of the far-right, whose agenda seems to be a campaign against the introduction of LGBTI rights, which they say will be imposed due to closer EU ties.
Mr Margvelashvili believes the way forward is to combat these “myths” through an open democracy rather than imposing any sort of ban on Russian TV stations.
“We must not fight Russian propaganda by limiting freedom of expression, because then democracy would be lost,” he argues.
Walking along Shota Rustaveli Avenue, the main Tbilisi thoroughfare, one cannot miss Georgia’s contrasting realities – the luxury cars, men in suits and elite brands intermingle with the harsh reality of others who struggle to make ends meet.
The Caucasian state, which shares its northern border with Russia, has a population of 3.7 million, of whom two in five earn their living from agriculture.
The rest work in the manufacturing industry, where a monthly wage of $350 is the average.
Following independence in 1991, Georgia signed an association agreement with the EU in 2014, which has meant financial assistance to modernise public institutions, civil society and grants for areas like education and SMEs.
While the government is keen to stress its commitment to implementing various aspects of the agreement, there is a degree of scepticism in civil society.
Ivane Chkhikvadze, from Open Society-Georgia Foundation, expresses his disappointment that the Georgian authorities are lagging behind in the implementation of measures listed in the accords, such as occupational safety measures and curbing toxic emissions. He accuses the government of being more focused on “fire-fighting” than drafting an action plan to meet the EU targets.
Despite acknowledging they have a very bumpy road ahead, civil society representatives say there is no alternative.
“Our existential problem is either EU integration or being in Russia’s backyard”
They acknowledge that the latter would be a bumpy road, and Nina Bolkvadze, director of the Information Centre Nato and EU, says, “We have no choice apart from this dream.”
This sentiment is shared by the Georgian President himself, who admits he is baffled as to why there should be doubts about the very existence of the EU.
“It seems that some Europeans do not understand the extraordinary benefit the EU has brought about. Looking at history, you realise it was the longest period of peace and stability.
“If not EU, what other scenarios are possible?” Mr Margvelashvili asks.