Date:27 May 2008
 
Speakers:
Eka Tkeshelashvili, Foreign Minister of Georgia
Nicu Popescu, European Council on Foreign Relations
Chair: Michael Emerson, Senior Fellow & Head of the Neighbourhood Policy Unit, CEPS
 
CEPS hosted a special Membership Meeting with the new Georgian Foreign Minister, Eka Tkeshelashvili. The meeting took place shortly after the Georgian parliamentary elections held on 21 May 2008. Ms Tkeshelashvili presented her views on domestic political developments in Georgia and the rising international tensions over Abkhazia.
 
Addressing the conduct of the parliamentary elections, Ms Tkeshelashvili recognized the deficiencies identified by international election observers, but contended that the elections nevertheless constituted a very important step forward for Georgia's democratic development. She underlined that the government had undertaken considerable efforts to ensure the proper conduct of the election process including the campaign and pre-election period. In order to further consolidate Georgia's democratic development and achieve genuine political pluralism, a constructive dialogue with the opposition would be required with the active participation of all political stakeholders.
 
The Foreign Minister expressed grave concern over Russia's policy on Abkhazia during the past months including Moscow's withdrawal from the CIS sanctions regime, the presidential decree on establishing relations with Abkhaz entities and the apparent build-up of Russian troops in the area. Responding to a question from the audience on the questionable legality of Georgia's use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in view of the Moscow cease-fire agreement of 1994, Ms Tkeshelashvili asserted that the use of these unarmed UAVs was the only way to gather intelligence about the deployments of Russian troops in Abkhazia, which had apparently moved outside of the designated areas monitored by UNOMIG. The Foreign Minister reiterated Georgia's commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. She called for a change in the format of the international negotiating and conflict resolution arrangements, which should include a direct dialogue between Tbilisi and Sukhumi and a more extensive involvement of other international stakeholders including the European Union.
In his comments on the Foreign Minister's presentation, Nicu Popescu, a Research Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, pointed to several cross-cutting disconnects between the EU and Georgia. While the EU's approach focuses on long-term, low-politics issues without a clear vision for the future of EU-Georgian relations, Tbilisi perceives itself as facing urgent, existential threats and has a strong sense of direction concerning its political and economic reform agenda. Mr Popescu reminded that in order to interact with the EU more effectively, Georgia needed to broaden the coalition of its supporters in the EU and pay greater attention to the careful preparation of its initiatives, which should take a step-by-step approach focusing on achievable objectives.
 
The meeting was chaired by Michael Emerson, a Senior Research Fellow at CEPS. In his concluding remarks, Mr Emerson noted the remarkable progress of Georgia's economic reform programme, which should be acknowledged and fully taken into account in the EU's decision on negotiating a free trade agreement with Tbilisi. Mr Emerson wrapped up the session by stressing the pivotal importance for Georgia to strengthen its credentials as a democratic state in order to maintain and expand its support base in the EU.