Director of the Caucasus Institute of Regional Security Alexander Rusetsky believes that the location of Georgia and its relations with Russia are complicated by the fact that the country is on the border of global interests, between the two poles.
“We have internal conflict – we present politically divided society. One part is focused on one pole and the other on the other. And on this basis, there are the two outputs. Georgia will either remain divided into two territorial administrations, where on one side will be Abkhazia and South Ossetia under the influence of Russia, and on the other – the rest of Georgia, where it will be the dominant pro-Western forces. Or we will be able to find a compromise between these two extremes, “- says the analyst.
According to him, “the balance of geopolitical poles in Georgia means that all groups, the supporters of both directions of development should be presented in the political system, in Parliament and in the power structure.”
At the same time, the political scientist disagreed with declared statements that the main reason for the Euro-Atlantic integration is the fact that the population of Georgia during plebiscite in January 2008 approved the policy of NATO and it was the general view of society.
“We cannot talk about the entire population at the expense of statistical majority. Yes, I agree that a statistical majority of the Georgian population has that opinion. But there is a qualitative minority that has different opinion. And since I belong to the category of experts who believe that Abkhazia and South Ossetia is part of Georgia, we have to take into account the views of the population of these regions in such processes.” said Rusetsky.
In addition, he said that a number of case studies present a picture somewhat different from the available data, according to the residents of Georgia regarding the country’s accession to NATO.
“As for the Georgian-Russian relations in this field, I also have optimism,” – said Rusetsky, noting that his institute has developed a project to establish a dialogue between Georgia and Russia.
“We need to have new ideas, and that confidence was restored between the parties. And it is also important to restore peacemaking. After all, there is no real strategic goal of achieving general peace. And we can provide support in this, “- said the analyst.
