Moscow Claims Tbilisi Triggers EU, Russia ‘Confrontation’

In an information note issued on March 3 the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Tbilisi of an attempts aiming at “confronting the European Union with Russia” over the Russian-Georgian border monitoring issue.
 
Particularly, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed concern regarding Georgia’s recent request to the European Union over sending international monitors to the Russian-Georgian border and Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili’s statement made in Brussels on March 2, when she said that international monitoring of Russo-Georgia border is of vital importance, because Moscow is threatening to launch preemptive strikes into Georgian territory.
 
“Such statements can hardly be regarded otherwise than as an attempt to confront Russia to the European Union, with whom Russia has close partnership. These relationships do not consider use of EU for anti-Russian goals and [these relations] also should not serve doubtful interests of Georgian politicians,” the Russian Foreign Ministry’s information note reads.
 
The Russian Foreign Ministry states that the issue of security of the Russian-Georgian border should be settled through cooperation between the border guards and law-enforcement agencies of the two countries and not through the international monitoring of the border.

“As it is known, in recent years OSCE was conducing monitoring of Russian-Georgian border. The operation was suspended [as a result of Russia’s veto] on January 1 [2005] as it was considered that despite of significant funds spent for this operation, it turned to be ineffective,” the Russian Foreign Ministry states.

“Chechen fighters were well aware of movement of international monitors [across the border], as well as of locations of their observation points. Hence, they [Chechen fighters] planned their activities across the border through knowing [this information]. As a result they [Chechen fighters] were less concerned by the presence of international monitors at the border. Hence, replacement of one [international border] monitoring [operation] with another will hardly be productive,” the information note issued by Russian Foreign Ministry reads.

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