Georgian MFA Comments on Akhalkalaki Base

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said on April 27 that there are certain forces who will try “to derail the already ongoing process of withdrawal” of the Russian military base from Akhalkalaki under the pretext of deteriorating social conditions in the region.

In an information note issued on April 27 the Foreign Ministry commented on a protest rally which took place outside the Russian military base in Akhalkalaki on April 25. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that this protest rally by the local population against the withdrawal of the Russian military base hindered the pull out of military hardware from the base which was scheduled for April 26. Many locals in Akhalkalaki, a a town predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians, are employed at the Russian military base.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that a “rather small protest” rally outside the base was held mainly by “Russian servicemen and their family members.”

“The Georgian Authorities exercise full control over the situation [in Akhalkalaki] and continue to unerringly comply with all commitments under the [March 31, 2006] Agreement between the Russian Federation and Georgia on Terms and Rules of Temporary Functioning and Withdrawal of the Russian Military Bases,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

The information note also stresses that the Georgian authorities are planning “a series of effective” social and economic rehabilitation programs in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region, including those in frames of the U.S.-funded Millennium Challenge Account aid.