After the famous statements of Georgian Defense Minister about the fecal masses sold in Russia and Parliament Speaker Nino Burdjanadze’s speech frustrating the Russians at the 100 anniversary of the State Duma in Saint Petersburg, Moscow took a more rigid stance towards Georgia. Following the trade embargo, now Russia may simply oust the Georgians from its territory. The Kremlin gave orders to set up a commission for determining the number of the Georgians illegally residing on the territory of Russia, after which action plan on their expulsion will be worked out. There is no exact data on the number of the Georgians, but the experts suppose that there may be around a million. Though the deportation of such a number of people may require a huge sum, Moscow will hardly stop there. According to a number of economists, implementation of the plan for expulsion of the Georgians may cost a state collapse to the silly authorities – the return of a hundred of thousands of Georgians from Russia will diametrically shift both the economic and criminal situation in Georgia. It is due to the Georgians working in Russia that hundreds of millions of dollars get into the country, which helps their families’ survival. There is a threat of economic chaos, while the consequences of the return of the representatives of the criminal world, recently settled in Russia, do not need special mentioning. We should note also that civil disturbance is also possible.
In such a grave background, the speech of Burdjanadze at the celebration ceremony in Saint Petersburg looked especially absurd. By Georgian tradition, during a confrontation a woman cast a kerchief between the rivals and they put the swords back into the sheath. The history says that when a part of the Georgian elite entered into a plot against Queen Tamara, it is two women – Khvashak Tsokali and Kravai Jakeli – who took the mission of ambassadors-mediators and extinguished the fire ready to break out. Probably, a similar mission was assigned to Burdjanadze, especially that in Russia she is viewed as a Georgian politician of high rank. However, the mission failed. Her speech only enraged the Russian deputies. It is interesting that later Burdjanadze stated that in her speech she smoothed the sharp angles of the text composed in Tbilisi. So that now it is even hard to imagine what would be the reaction of the Russians if the Speaker read out the speech prepared in the Tbilisi “politburo” of the nationals. The talks in the lobby are that her speech was the result of strenuous efforts by the pair Bokeria-Targamadze, not caring about its presentation at the jubilee ceremony. They well understood that the Speaker will be unable to oppose them, so they maximally reflected their own negative attitude to Russia in the text. Moreover, they well understood that Burdjanadze will not protest their text and even if she does, they will resort to a well-tried method – the threats: we will first arrest your father (reputable businessman in grain and bread industry) and the husband (head of the department for state border defense). Based on the reliable sources, the claims to the Burdjanadze family are grounded. It is also possible that Burdjanadze had an aim of strengthening her own rating in Petersburg. However, it turned out the opposite, since she is a bad diplomat. Certain leaders of the nationals compared the speech of Burdjanadze with a famous speech of the Chairman of the Supreme Council of Georgia Akakia Asatiani at the congress of the people’s deputies of the Soviet Union. There is a big difference though – back then Asatiani deliberately aggravated the situation, speaking before the deputies of the state, which Georgia intended to leave, whereas Burdjanadze was invited to the jubilee session. Under the circumstances, one either refrains from the trip or, accepting the invitation, gives congratulations on the occasion. The claims to Russia might be voiced during personal meetings. Though, after the scandalous speech of the Speaker of State Duma, Boris Grizlov decided not to meet her.
Georgia irritates Russia even at this stage, while the speech of the Speaker of Georgian Parliament only aggravated this attitude. Thus leader of the communists Gennady Zyuganov said directly, “If you want to have cheap electricity and gas, don’t put on airs”. Added up to it is the statement of Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili in Ukraine. Appointed chief wine-maker of the country by the President, the military commander then spoke about fecal masses sold on the Russian market. In response, Vladimir Jirinovski proposed, “You have your fecal masses yourselves, as this statement of yours admits that the beverages were falsified”. While, Vice-Speaker of the Duma, Lyubov Sliska suggested declaring Burdjanadze persona non grata in Russia. It is certainly up to Russia, while the Georgian Speaker should really have thought about what consequences her speech might have for over a million Georgians in Russia. If she had met the Petersburg Georgians, heard the opinion of the refugees from Abkhazia, her speech would have probably been different. But…
Based on lobby information, the majority of the Petersburg Georgians obviously disliked the speech of Burdjanadze. It was reported that persecution of the Georgians already started in Russia.
Georgia, “Georgian Times”
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