Bluezoo
03-10-2005, 11:36 AM
Georgian Parliament To Vote on Russian Military Bases
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TBILISI
Georgia’s parliament will vote March 10 on whether to outlaw Russian military bases on the former Soviet republic’s territory, unless Moscow and Tbilisi can agree on their withdrawal by January 2006.
However, Moscow responded that such a timeline was impossible to meet, setting up another confrontation with the former Soviet republic, which currently houses two Russian military bases.
Relations between the two countries had been severely strained in recent years, following the election of pro-Western reformer Mikhail Saakashvili as Georgian president.
“Russian military bases must be withdrawn from Georgia by January 2006, after that their presence in our country would be illegal,” said a Georgian text due for submission to parliament.
According to the text, Tbilisi and Moscow have only until May 1 to work out a suitable deadline for the withdrawal of the bases, which have been one of several strains in relations between Russia and Georgia.
Parliament’s planned vote has raised alarm among Georgian government officials.
Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili called for the issue to be considered at a later date, saying “there is a certain plan for the Russian withdrawal,” though she admitted she was not certain “we would get the results we expect.”
The statement also outraged parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, who tried to strike it off the assembly’s agenda.
“We have an agreement with the Russian side — we are waiting for their concrete proposals (until May 1). I do not think we should prompt anyone to say this issue is being pressed in our parliament, or provoke any inadequate reaction,” Burdzhanadze said.
The Russian foreign ministry also called the move “counterproductive,” as Moscow and Tbilisi were due to hold intensive talks on the issue in March or April.
“It is understood that if the atmosphere is heated, negotiators would find it harder to seek compromise,” the ministry’s spokesman said late March 10.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov denied last month at a security conference in Munich that Russia had pledged to close all four of its bases in Georgia at a 1999 summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
It has withdrawn from two of them but negotiations over the timetable for the removal of the other two, in the western town of Batumi and the southern town of Akhalkalaki, have long been stalled.
Russia had said that it would need up to 10 or more years to close the sites, and is pressing either Georgia or the United States to help finance the project.
An unnamed Russian defense ministry official told ITAR-TASS that Moscow may be able to withdraw its troops from Georgia by 2009.
“After carefully examining the situation we have come to the conclusion that we will need three to four years at the minimum,” the unnamed Russian defense ministry official said.
A Russian proposal last year to set up joint “anti-terrorist centers” is seen in Tbilisi as a means to keep the Russian bases under another guise, a Georgian lawmaker who was in the talks, Guiga Bokeria, told Agence France-Presse.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/posting.php?mode=newtopic&f=7
By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, TBILISI
Georgia’s parliament will vote March 10 on whether to outlaw Russian military bases on the former Soviet republic’s territory, unless Moscow and Tbilisi can agree on their withdrawal by January 2006.
However, Moscow responded that such a timeline was impossible to meet, setting up another confrontation with the former Soviet republic, which currently houses two Russian military bases.
Relations between the two countries had been severely strained in recent years, following the election of pro-Western reformer Mikhail Saakashvili as Georgian president.
“Russian military bases must be withdrawn from Georgia by January 2006, after that their presence in our country would be illegal,” said a Georgian text due for submission to parliament.
According to the text, Tbilisi and Moscow have only until May 1 to work out a suitable deadline for the withdrawal of the bases, which have been one of several strains in relations between Russia and Georgia.
Parliament’s planned vote has raised alarm among Georgian government officials.
Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili called for the issue to be considered at a later date, saying “there is a certain plan for the Russian withdrawal,” though she admitted she was not certain “we would get the results we expect.”
The statement also outraged parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze, who tried to strike it off the assembly’s agenda.
“We have an agreement with the Russian side — we are waiting for their concrete proposals (until May 1). I do not think we should prompt anyone to say this issue is being pressed in our parliament, or provoke any inadequate reaction,” Burdzhanadze said.
The Russian foreign ministry also called the move “counterproductive,” as Moscow and Tbilisi were due to hold intensive talks on the issue in March or April.
“It is understood that if the atmosphere is heated, negotiators would find it harder to seek compromise,” the ministry’s spokesman said late March 10.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov denied last month at a security conference in Munich that Russia had pledged to close all four of its bases in Georgia at a 1999 summit of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
It has withdrawn from two of them but negotiations over the timetable for the removal of the other two, in the western town of Batumi and the southern town of Akhalkalaki, have long been stalled.
Russia had said that it would need up to 10 or more years to close the sites, and is pressing either Georgia or the United States to help finance the project.
An unnamed Russian defense ministry official told ITAR-TASS that Moscow may be able to withdraw its troops from Georgia by 2009.
“After carefully examining the situation we have come to the conclusion that we will need three to four years at the minimum,” the unnamed Russian defense ministry official said.
A Russian proposal last year to set up joint “anti-terrorist centers” is seen in Tbilisi as a means to keep the Russian bases under another guise, a Georgian lawmaker who was in the talks, Guiga Bokeria, told Agence France-Presse.
http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/posting.php?mode=newtopic&f=7