Landsbergis: Russia is blowing up Europe

Vytautas Landsbergis is a Lithuanian conservative politician and Member of the European Parliament. He was Lithuania's first head of state it declared independence from the Soviet Union in March 1990, and served as the Head of the Lithuanian Parliament.

The following is a linguistically edited version of the semi-machine-translated text which Professor Landsbergis distributed at the European Parliament yesterday.

Russia is blowing up Europe

The gloomiest premonitions are shortly about to come true. Europe is divided, and obsequious grovelling is finally yielding to Russian aggression. This was manifested by the EU leaders' inability even to state the fact that a foreign power had crossed the frontiers and ravaged the social fabric of a sovereign country. Nor did the immobilized United Nations dare to demand that the armed forces of the invader, under the control of the supreme commander in chief in the Kremlin responsible for the ongoing violence and plunder, get out immediately. Calls to stop these crimes had no result, and neither did ineffective parlance about Russia's 'inappropriate methods'.

It was as if one were expected to believe that if the Russian bombers targeted fewer bombs on homes, blew up fewer bridges, sank only two offshore patrol boats, not three, killed not two pressmen in Gori, but only one instead, perhaps, those methods would appear acceptable.

The German proposals for the stabilization of the situation under Russian occupation were exactly similar. To those unaware of the importance of the wording, Moscow insisted on continuing the misconceived usage of 'peacekeepers' as a description of invaders. This was exacerbated by an empty, time-wasting disagreement about the future of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, while the future of both Georgia and Europe remain at stake.

The only test of credibility for the EU and NATO today is to demand that Russia's armed forces be immediately and unconditionally withdrawn. In order to prevent this, Russia simply denounced any full withdrawal. Shut your mouths, Europeans. Is that M. Sarkozy you’re addressing?

Anyone who fails to demand a complete unconditional withdrawal, not just a 'pull-back' of Russian forces, is actually justifying the incursion and the sea blockade, the looting, the rape, the total destruction of communications and economic infrastructure, if the Georgians are not pushed to guerrilla warfare in their own sovereign land, Russia will at least have succeeded in 'balkanizing' South Ossetia - village against village, so the destruction may now go deeper into Georgia. The new Georgian city of Akhalgori, is already occupied by 'independent Ossetians.' The mockery continues.

By their appeasement, Europe’s leaders are gradually becoming accomplices in total villainy.

Russia is quite content to reveal itself as a medieval conqueror state, to which all the goods seized from the defeated side belong. "These are our trophies," it says. That is a quotation.

We have seen it all in Lithuania - the outright Soviet cynicism, the ideological demagoguery that is accompanied by the violence of the military and by Chekist atrocities.

They began by accusing Lithuania of being the aggressor in 1940; the occupation was followed by the Red Terror, and then, by the use of specially re-uniformed assault troopers, they waged total warfare against peasants who were thrown out of their homes and land for decades until Lithuania regained its independence on March 12 1990.

This is currently being done in Georgia, while terrorists brought in from North Caucasus are also allowed to demonstrate how impotent the Tbilisi government is. That government has agreed to not even undertake the responsibility of protecting its own people. Europe de facto approves of “free hands” in this “solution” and agreement. You will not resist, M. Sarkozy agreed. We won’t protect you either, just make statements. Let the Georgian forces retreat to the places of their deployment. As to the whereabouts of Russia's units or the date by which they are supposed to leave – that has been left to be guessed. The Kremlin is free to tell lies every day. The Georgians will be told what to do, while the Russians will only be offered suggestions. In response, the Russians are already dictating conditions as victors.

There has been open hypocrisy: as if the bandits who followed the forces of the invaders did not belong to the Russian units. That is exactly how it was presented to us in 1991; the Soviet interior ministry OMON gangs were portrayed as 'local forces' assigned to protect the local Poles from the Lithuanians. A little later the whole of the so-called “Baltic regional military structure” (the Russian one, of course) was declared a "local public force" which was take part in determining the future "status" of the three Baltic States! But President Boris Yeltsin behaved honestly, so the menacing bubbles of the GRU bubbles proved to be empty in the end.

Before that, in Lithuania we saw the night of January 13 1991,a night which may be descending on Georgia presently. I can well remember the horrible sensation; we were being butchered, looted, exposed to anything they had on their minds while the whole world remained silent. Only Boris Yeltsin responded, as I later found out, by sternly warning Mr Gorbachev. But Gorbachev was by then already a hostage of the crime that had been perpetrated with his consent. And as the bloody morning drew closer, the West's protests were already audible.

The Soviet generals were, however, prevented from "finishing the job". It seems that things are similar around Tbilisi. The Russians are mocking President Sarkozy and Secretary of State Rice by withdrawing a little when they are in town, and coming back closer inr after the guests depart.

Georgia is not seeing the dawn, and Europe is allowing it to be so.

This may suggest that we are now at the beginning of the long-planned break-up of the European Union and the cataclysm of that ancient civilization. If we are honest we can see that morally Europe already capitulated way back in Chechnya. Any simplified, primitive and artificial justification for that punishing Chechen genocide, the second after the one inflicted by Stalin in 1944, was accepted. Now the berries are ripe.

Russian troops building illegal checkpoint on Poti-Senaki highway [mfa.gov.ge]

http://mfa.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=36&info_id=7606

It has become known that the Russian Federation’s armed forces illegally stationed on the territory of Georgia are mounting yet another provocation. In particular, Russian servicemen with the use of appropriate equipment are building a fixed control checkpoint on the Senaki-Poti highway, in the vicinity of the entrance to Poti, on the so-called 7^th kilometer.

The aforesaid fact indicates the Russian side’s yet another attempt to proceed with and further expand its military intervention in and occupation of the territory of Georgia. It needs to be noted that Poti is located approximately 30 kilometers from the conflict zone of Abkhazia and approximately 160 kilometers from the conflict zone of the Tskhinvali region.

Against the background of the Russian Federation’s statement made at the highest level, actual facts of withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Georgia point quite to the contrary.

We once again call on the international community to employ all resources at its disposal to put an end to Russian aggression.

Time to impose sanctions on Russia

Marko Mihkelson suggests that since Russia obviously intends to prolong and even perpetuate its military occupation of Georgia, and is doing its utmost to paralyse the economic life of the country, it's time that Russia be given a taste of its own medicine. While Moscow can play on the dissensions between individual EU and NATO states regarding other types of response, a united stand on the matter of economic sanctions against Russia should not be too hard to achieve. And such sanctions could be quite effective. "After all, the oligarchs are human, too. Are they not?" Mihkelson asks.

Cliché Diplomacy: "Peace through Speech"

From: The Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc. [mailto:jbanc@jbanc.org]
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2008 5:19 AM
To: jbanc@jbanc.org
Subject: Cliché Diplomacy: "Peace Through Speech" (Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, Redstate, August 19, 2008 )
http://www.redstate.com/diaries/redstate/2008/aug/19/cliche-diplomacy-peace-through-speech/
Cliché Diplomacy: "Peace Through Speech"
Posted by: Rep. Thaddeus McCotter
Tuesday, August 19, 2008 at 04:00AM

In wake of revanchist Russia’s invasion of Georgia, a sovereign democracy allied with the United States and Europe, the stunned Bush administration’s response to this failure of “quiet diplomacy” and “engagement” policy with Comrade Putin – he of the soulful eyes – was initially one of stammered clichés, each of which is revelatory, juvenile and injurious.

Consequently, to further the cause of liberty and security, we are compelled to dispel the clichés fostering the failed policy of “peace through speech”; reassert the doctrine of “peace through strength”; and advance concrete actions to punish Russia for invading Georgia.

Regarding the clichés, first let us dispense with “Democracies don’t attack democracies.” Though belied by the War of 1812 (as but one example), this canard persisted until it came to rest in pieces beneath the boot heels of Georgia’s Russian invaders.

Next, we must refute how “This type of aggression is unacceptable in the 21st Century.” Excuse me, but welcome to the “end of the end of history”! It is insane to presume an arbitrary millennial date prevents nations from using force to attain perceived gains. For years it has been evident Comrade Putin disagrees with this false assumption; thus, who could be shocked this inanity has gained as little credence in Moscow as the Kellogg-Briand Pact once gained in Berlin?

Finally, let us end the myth aggressor nations measure their “international standing” in the same vein as do western democracies. Russia does not seek to be liked. Russia seeks to be feared. In sum, through intimidation and coercion Russia seeks what it cannot accomplish through cooperation and negotiation – the political subordination of central and eastern Europe’s sovereign, U.S. allied democracies within what Russia deems its “near abroad.” To gain this end, Russia invaded Georgia. In making this decision, Comrade Putin anticipated “The West’s” tepid words; and Comrade Putin didn’t give a damn. In fact, he was counting on them to bolster both his own domestic power within Russia and his nation’s external power over central and eastern European nations, who would be less than reassured by a weak-kneed US and EU response. (No doubt, too, Comrade Putin is laughing hysterically over some “sophisticated” foreign policy “experts” claiming the West’s harsh rhetoric will only inflame the situation. It looks like the Left hasn’t lost its “cold war” mindset, either!)

Frankly, the above clichés reveal the rot within both the administration’s and the Republican Party’s present foreign policy. Conflating the truth of Reagan’s dictum of “peace through strength” with the hope of “peace through speech”, the GOP has forgotten that words won’t stop tanks.

But “peace through strength” will. Nations must know pursing strategic aims through aggressive measures will cause them more harm than good. Then, if an aggressor nation miscalculates and strikes regardless, the harm to the aggressor nation must swiftly and surely outweigh its coveted benefits.

Therefore, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Georgia, individually and collectively the United States and our allies must:

Ensure the removal of all Russian troops, weapons, and intelligence officers from Georgian soil.

Secure Russian reparations for the damages incurred by Georgia due to this illegal invasion.

Invite Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to address a joint session of the United States Congress and reaffirm the bond of solidarity between the free peoples of our democracies.

Offer a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Georgia and the Ukraine.

Suspend high-level NATO-Russia Council (NRC) meetings until all Russian troops, weapons, and intelligence officers are removed from Georgian soil; and Russian reparations for the damages incurred by Georgia due to this illegal invasion are tendered.

Authorize Georgia, Ukraine, and all non-NATO central and eastern European allies to receive the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) the same preferential treatment as NATO+3 (Australia, Japan, and New Zeeland).

Authorize large-scale Foreign Military Financing (FMF) assistance to central and eastern European NATO allies.

Accelerate European Union accession and partnership negotiations with Ukraine and Georgia.

Bar Russia from the G-8 until all Russian troops, weapons, and intelligence officers are removed from Georgian soil; and Russian reparations for the damages incurred by Georgia due to this illegal invasion are tendered.

Refuse consideration of Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) until all Russian troops, weapons, and intelligence officers are removed from Georgian soil; and Russian reparations for the damages incurred by Georgia due to this illegal invasion are tendered.

End Russia's PNTR status and further sanction Russia with Column Two Tariffs until all Russian troops, weapons, and intelligence officers are removed from Georgian soil; and Russian reparations for the damages incurred by Georgia due to this illegal invasion are tendered.

Provide the Economic Support Funding (ESF) to Georgia to repair their infrastructure, which will be repaid by Russian reparations for the damages incurred by Georgia due to this illegal invasion.

Reauthorize programs under the Belarus Democracy Reauthorization Act.

Assert that continued, large-scale, organized cyber attacks constitute an act of aggression.

Direct the Department of Interior’s United States Board of Geographic Names to refer to the Kuril Islands by their Japanese name.

Call upon the International Olympic Committee to relocate the 2014 Winter Olympics from Sochi, Russia, to a non-aggressor nation.

Well, there I go again, revealing my “cold war” mentality. Maybe the “peace through speech” sophisticates are right. Let’s pass some vapid resolutions accusing Russia of not being an international team player; importune Comrade Putin to return the soul behind his eyes to its rightful owner; and hope this rabid bear is coaxed back into hibernation.

Still, one must wonder if the Georgian people would appreciate the irony that our quiet diplomacy is premised upon loud publicity not their pained reality?

###
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Karl Altau
Managing Director
Joint Baltic American National Committee, Inc.
400 Hurley Avenue
Rockville, MD  20850
tel. 301-340-1954
fax 301-309-1406
jbanc@jbanc.org
http://jbanc.org
Representing:
Estonian American National Council, Inc.
American Latvian Association, Inc.
Lithuanian American Council, Inc.
******************************

The Stockholm speech

It’s now starting to be time for all the Western commentators, the op-ed writers, journalists, political analysts, academics, businesspeople and sundry Kremlinologists who acclaimed the “New Russia” that supposedly emerged after the fall of Communism to publicly admit that they were wrong – that what really took place was a co-ordinated attempt at a gross deception intended  by a cynical post-Soviet elite to make the world believe in a manifest falsehood. There were reasons for this willingness to be duped. The liberated nations of Eastern Europe, the states of Poland, Hungary, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were genuinely liberated, able to begin the return to the democratic traditions of their pre-1939 existence, and many people in the West rightly greeted this with relief. In Russia, however, no such return took place, for the simple reason that there had never been any democratic traditions in Russia to begin with. A euphoric mood of “let’s make believe” took hold of many Western observers of the Russian political scene.

Yet if they took a closer look, they could see that in essence nothing had really changed in the halls of power within the Kremlin. Sixteen years ago, on December 14 1992, Andrei Kozyrev, the foreign minister of the newly-fledged Russian “successor state”, made a speech in Stockholm - in connection with the then newly developing Balkan crisis - which outlined the true nature of Russia’s foreign policy. Though Kozyrev treated his audience to a theatrical turnaround in which he claimed that his statement was a “rhetorical device”, intended to show the power of those who opposed the supposedly “liberal” tendency of the new government, experienced observers realized what was afoot. The speech went as follows:

I am obliged to introduce corrections in the general direction of Russian foreign policy. I wish to inform you briefly about these to the extent that they concern CSCE problems.

First: While fully maintaining the policy of entry into Europe, we clearly recognize that our traditions in many respects, if not fundamentally, lie in Asia, and this sets limits to our rapprochement with Western Europe.

We see that, despite a certain degree of evolution, the strategies of NATO and the WEU, which are drawing up plans to strengthen their military presence in the Baltic and other regions of the territory of the former Soviet Union and to interfere in Bosnia and the internal affairs of Yugoslavia, remain essentially unchanged.

Clearly, sanctions against the FRY were dictated by this policy. We demand that they be lifted, and if this does not happen, we reserve our right to take the necessary unilateral measures to defend our interests, especially since the sanctions cause us economic harm. In its struggle, the present Government of Serbia can count on the support of the great Russia.

Second: The space of the former Soviet Union cannot be regarded as a zone of full application of CSCE norms. In essence, this is a post-imperial space, in which Russia has to defend its interests using all available means, including military and economic ones. We shall strongly insist that the former USSR Republics join without delay the new Federation or Confederation, and there will be tough talks on this matter.

Third: All those who think that they can disregard these particularities and interests – that Russia will suffer the fate of the Soviet Union – should not forget that we are talking of a state that is capable of standing up for itself and its friends. We are, of course, ready to play a constructive part in the work of the CSCE Council, although we shall be very cautious in our approach to ideas leading to interference in internal affairs.

It’s time now to go back to the history of those early years of the Yeltsin government and to discover what really happened in them.

A Russian threat to Israel

The Jerusalem Post writes that

Syrian President Bashar Assad has pledged to support Russia in its conflict with Georgia and said that Damascus was ready to consider deploying Russian Iskander missile systems in its territory, in response to the US missile shield in Europe.

Assad made the comments in an interview for Russia's Kommersant newspaper, on the eve of his official visit to Sochi for discussions with Medvedev.  

Chechens sympathize with Georgia

Prague Watchdog's Ramzan Akhmadov discusses Chechen reactions to Russia's invasion of Georgia, and interviews some Chechen citizens:

"...The Georgians must be constantly alert, because they can expect a stab in the back at any moment. In 1997 people also believed that the Kremlin was sincere, when Yeltsin and Maskhadov signed a peace agreement. And what happened next?” asks a former deputy of the parliament of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, who wishes to remain anonymous.

“I have no doubt that the Russian media will now do its best to create an image of Georgians as enemies of Russia. They’ll do it all with the same methods as they used on us Chechens. A mass zombification of the public at large, the preparing of public opinion, perhaps one or two bloody terrorist attacks with a lot of human victims, which will of course be carried out by "persons of Georgian nationality", and Russia will once again enthusiastically respond to an incendiary call to ‘wipe out the terrorists in the toilet’", he says with conviction. “The Kremlin will seek at any cost to overthrow the regime of Mikhail Saakashvili, who is stubborn enough to lead his country into NATO, and they’ll put their puppet in Tbilisi. And there’s a suitable candidate to hand – an ‘opposition figure’ who’s been kept warm by Moscow, Igor Giorgadze, Putin’s colleague in the KGB. In my view, some serious ordeals await Georgia in the near future. Very serious ones," he says. (my tr.)

Read the whole thing here.

The courage to resist

In his op-ed column published in the Washington Post today, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Michael Gerson makes some profoundly reasonable points about the negative results for Russia's reputation and international standing as a result of its aggression in Georgia. Above all, he is right to point to our own duty in the West to support Georgia and its people, and not to cast blame on ourselves:

The worst option would be to excuse Russia by blaming ourselves. NATO expansion did not cause Russian belligerence. The desire to be part of NATO in liberated Europe was fueled, in part, by a justified fear of Russian belligerence. Citizens of the Baltic states, for example, are now glad that NATO expanded with relative speed, or they might be next on Putin's list. Again and again in European history, there has been a temptation to sacrifice the freedom of small countries to the interests of great powers. And it generally hasn't worked out very well, for them or for us.

Georgia has been foolish. But Russia's crude overreach has had one good effect -- revealing the courage of others. Poland has quickly upgraded its relations with America, even under nuclear threat from Russia. Ukraine has been defiant, even though Russia still makes claims on Crimea. These nations have recent memories of Russian national "pride." And their courage should provoke our own.

Prague, August 20-21, 1968

Today and tomorrow mark the 40th anniversary of the Soviet and Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Sweden's foreign minister Carl Bildt has a commemorative post on his weblog. Excerpt (my tr.):

And just after midnight it all began. Soviet special troops took over the airport. In surged the rumbling Antonovs carrying the airborne detachments, guided by the plane that had parked on the edge of the field.

The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia - Operation Donau to the Soviet staffs - had started.

But 40 years ago it was still just the twentieth of August.

And most of Europe was enjoying the summer, sleeping or relaxing.

The calm before the tragedy.

Asmus on NATO

In the Wall Street Journal, Transatlantic Center director Ronald D. Asmus discusses new practical steps that NATO can make in the changed geostrategic situation that now exists in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Georgia. Now that the "confidence-building steps" towards Russia which have guided the Alliance's Central Europe policy in recent years are plainly no longer necessary or desirable, he notes that

Since the Alliance began enlarging a decade ago, it has not conducted any defense planning against a possible Russian military threat to new members in Central and Eastern Europe or the Baltic states. We have unilaterally refrained from such steps partly as a confidence-building step toward Russia. New members have complained bitterly about this. It is why the Alliance is seen by many in the region as hollow. It is time to take this step as a prudent part of Alliance defense planning.

Asmus sees the future direction of NATO policy and practice in a stiffening of the Alliance's security guarantees to existing members by putting into place in the new member states "the infrastructure, reinforcement capabilities and symbolic deployments we are fully entitled to as a stabilizing and confidence-building measure for new allies."

NATO also needs to reassure those partners likely to be the next targets of Russian pressure and possible aggression, first and foremost Ukraine. This means rethinking NATO's enlargement strategy. In the mid-1990s, NATO adopted an enlargement strategy based on integration and not as a strategic response to Russia. We consciously raised the bar and requirements for new members. Our focus was less on protection than on democratic reforms to help anchor these countries to the West. But we also consciously left ourselves the option of lowering the bar in the future if the security environment took a turn for the worse. It now has done just that, and we need to shift our criteria again.

The whole article can be read here.

Ukraine and Georgia

In the Independent, Askold Krushelnycky writes about how President Yushchenko

went to Tbilisi to show support for Georgia, ordered restrictive new regulations for the Russian Black Sea Fleet based in Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, and offered Ukrainian co-operation in a Western missile defence system despite the knowledge that neighbouring Poland received a chilling warning from Russia for agreeing to allow deployment on its territory of elements of the US missile defence shield. For the first time since independence, Ukrainian television has aired discussion of possible conflict with Russia and even politicians considered to be pro-Moscow have begun warning that Ukraine could be next in the firing line.

Sarkozy became a messenger of Moscow's coercion

Jamestown's Vladimir Socor has an analysis of the method by which Moscow has already succeeded in invalidating the six-point French-brokered peace plan, and pinpoints President Sarkozy as the initiator of this process. A couple of brief excerpts from a long and carefully researched study:

Russia has junked the six-point agreement in the traditional way of Russian and Soviet diplomacy in Europe’s East: It eviscerates an international agreement of its content while preserving its carcass for continuing reference to excuse Kremlin actions.

------

The Georgians yielded to Sarkozy’s argument that failure to sign the document would immediately trigger the occupation of Tbilisi by Russian troops. By descending on Tbilisi with this argument straight from his tete-a-tete with Medvedev, the French president became in effect a messenger of Russian coercion of Georgia.

Invasion Timeline

The Independent has published a useful summary of events in the Russian invasion of Georgia. Though the article suffers here and there in its attempts to be "even-handed", it does give a fairly clear picture of the hours leading up to the Russian assault. Excerpt:

On 7 August, the day before the Olympics began, the Georgian negotiator, Temuri Yakobashvili, went to the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali for direct talks with the de facto separatist leader and a Russian envoy. Yakobashvili recalls that Tskhinvali already looked like a ghost town. But the Russian diplomat, Yuri Popov, failed to show up for the meeting at a Russian military base, saying that his car had a flat tyre. "Can't you change the tyre?" the incredulous Georgian negotiator asked the Russian who was supposed to be chairing the talks. No, he replied, as he did not have a spare.

Then, the South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity failed to show up. Yakobashvili asked the Russian general who headed the joint peacekeeping commission what to do, and was told: "Declare a ceasefire." So, that night at 7 pm, Saakashvili went on television and declared a unilateral ceasefire. But by that time, Georgian tanks and troops were on the move.

At 10.30pm, two Georgian peacekeepers were killed and six injured when the rebels opened fire on Georgian positions. But the attack that prompted Georgia's full-scale attack, at about midnight on 7 August, was a bombardment of the villages of Tamarasheni and Kurta, close to Tskhinvali.

Then, the Georgians say, came the "tipping point". They say the US showed them satellite photographs of 150 Russian tanks entering the Roki tunnel, although the Georgians have refused to provide such evidence. The Russians insist their build-up through the tunnel came only after the Georgians attacked Tskhinvali, killing 15 Russian peacekeepers. "This was a heavy armoured Russian column, moving slowly, on very rugged terrain in the highest mountain range in Europe," says Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze of Georgia. "Think how many hours of preparation, assembly, then marching, it would take for that column, moving at that speed on rugged terrain, to be at the Kurta bridge at six in the morning. If that isn't a premeditated invasion, I don't know what is." They were regular Russian troops, not peacekeepers, heading to Tskhinvali.

Gori "pullout" was a hoax

Via the Washington Post:

Many Georgians shrug at Russian promises to leave. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Russian column that left Gori on Tuesday was part of a hoax. "They just call these foreign journalists, move the column in front of them, and then when they are gone, they put them back. So there has been no withdrawal whatsoever."

Russia's response

In language that really does recall the days of the Cold War, or even the Third Reich, Russia's foreign minister has responded to the NATO foreign ministers' statement by calling it "an attempt to whitewash the criminal regime in Georgia", "making the aggressor the victim".

Militias attack civilians in Gori Region

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/16/georgi19630_txt.htm

Russia/Georgia: Militias Attack Civilians in Gori Region

Russia Should Curb Militias and Allow in Humanitarian Aid

(Tbilisi, August 17, 2008) – Russian authorities should immediately take steps to end Ossetian militia attacks on ethnic Georgians in the Gori district of Georgia, Human Rights Watch said today. The Russian military should also ensure safe passage for civilians wishing to leave the region and for humanitarian aid agencies to enter.

"The Russian military has effective control of the Gori region, making it responsible for the security and well-being of all people living there," said Rachel Denber, Europe and Central Asia deputy director at Human Rights Watch. "Russia should prevent any further militia attacks and allow humanitarian aid to reach the hundreds of vulnerable civilians still in the area, including many elderly."

Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed ethnic Georgians from the city of Gori and surrounding villages who described how armed Ossetian militias attacked their cars and kidnapped civilians as people tried to flee in response to militia attacks on their homes following the Russian advance into the area. In phone interviews, people remaining in Gori region villages told Human Rights Watch that they had witnessed looting and arson attacks by Ossetian militias in their villages, but are afraid to leave after learning about militia attacks on those who fled.

Russian military forces remain in Gori and the surrounding villages since advancing from South Ossetia on August 13, 2008. They have denied access to some humanitarian missions seeking to assist civilians. The UN, which has described the humanitarian situation in Gori as "desperate," has been able to deliver only limited food supplies to the city.

"Dato," a victim of an Ossetian militia attack, told Human Rights Watch that on August 12, militia fighters stopped a minivan carrying him and several other civilians near Tkviavi. The militia fighters attempted to abduct the male passengers, but Dato and four others managed to escape. No further information is available about the fate of at least eight men whom the militia abducted from the vehicle. Kidnapping and enforced disappearances are both prohibited under international law, and may amount to crimes against humanity or war crimes, depending on the circumstances in which they occur.

Vasiko Tevdorashvili, a Georgian official from a Gori district village, told Human Rights Watch that some 250 civilians remain trapped in three villages. He stated that they fear attacks by Ossetian militia and need help to leave the area. Acts intended to spread terror amongst the civilian population are also prohibited and may amount to a war crime. In a phone interview with Human Rights Watch, "Anna," a school teacher trapped in the village of Mereti, described her plight: "There are about 60 people, mostly elderly, remaining in the village. We are hiding in the gardens and in the forest … Our [relatives] learned that three houses in our village were looted and burned by Ossetians, and we are scared that they will come for us as well. Many of us want to leave, but we are scared to do so … we are afraid that if we try to leave, Ossetians will kidnap us."

Although Human Rights Watch was able to speak by phone to people in Gori region villages, many of those who have fled the region have no information about the fate of their relatives who have remained.

On August 12 and 13, Human Rights Watch documented how Ossetian militias looted and burned houses in ethnic Georgian villages in South Ossetia, along the road from Java to Tskhinvali (for more background, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/english/docs/2008/08/13/georgi19607.htm; for a slideshow of the burning and looting, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/photos/2008/georgia0808/.

Russian forces controlling Gori also denied access to most journalists trying to enter the city.

As the party to the conflict exercising effective control over Gori and the surrounding areas, Russia has an obligation under international humanitarian law to ensure the security and welfare of the civilians in the area. If it fails to take appropriate measures to protect civilians, ensure their security, and allow humanitarian access, it may be held responsible under humanitarian law for serious violations against civilians.

"The Russian military should immediately establish a safe corridor to and from Gori," said Denber. "No one should be forced to leave their homes, but those who wish to leave should be able to do so safely. Humanitarian relief workers should be allowed in to assist those who chose to remain or are unable to leave."

NATO FMs Statement on Georgia, Russia [civil.ge]

NATO FMs Statement on Georgia, Russia

Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 19 Aug.'08 / 17:01

Statement

Meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Foreign Ministers held at NATO Headquarters, Brussels,
on 19 August 2008

The North Atlantic Council met in special Ministerial session on 19 August 2008, expressed its grave concern over the situation in Georgia and discussed its wider implications for Euro-Atlantic stability and security.  A peaceful and lasting solution to the conflict in Georgia must be based on full respect for the principles of Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity recognised by international law and UN Security Council resolutions.  We deplore all loss of life, civilian casualties, and damage to civilian infrastructure that has resulted from the conflict.  We are assisting humanitarian relief efforts.  We met with the Chairman-in-Office of the OSCE, Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Alexander Stubb, to discuss the key issues which he believed needed to be addressed.

We welcome the agreement reached and signed by Georgia and Russia, through the diplomatic efforts of the European Union, the OSCE and the US, to end the hostilities and to bring about a political solution to the conflict.  We stand fully behind these efforts.  We stress the urgency of swift, complete, and good faith implementation of the agreement, including a new international mechanism to monitor respect for these engagements.  Military action must cease definitively and military forces must return to their positions held prior to the outbreak of hostilities.  Fully international discussions must begin on the modalities for security and stability in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.  Economic activity in Georgia, including international aviation and shipping, must not be hindered.

We are gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation.  Allied governments are working together, and in concert with international organisations and others in the international community, to ensure that the civilian populations affected by the conflict have the assistance they need to meet immediate and ongoing humanitarian needs.  We call on all parties, in accordance with their obligations under international humanitarian law, to ensure access for international humanitarian relief efforts to all affected populations.

We have also agreed today to support Georgia, upon its request, in a number of areas.  In addition, we have agreed to task the North Atlantic Council in Permanent Session to develop with Georgia rapidly the modalities for a NATO-Georgia Commission.  This Commission will supervise the process set in hand at Bucharest, including the measures of support agreed at today’s meeting.  These measures are intended to assist Georgia, a valued and long-standing Partner of NATO, to assess the damage caused by the military action and to help restore critical services necessary for normal public life and economic activity.  Georgia's recovery, security and stability are important to the Alliance.  NATO will continue to cooperate with Georgia in the framework of the Partnership for Peace and Georgia’s Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO, and will review any additional Georgian requests for assistance.  We also welcomed the fact that a number of our governments have indicated that they will actively support measures to help the economic reconstruction of Georgia.

The conflict between Georgia and Russia has compromised regional stability and security.  We deeply deplore the use of force in the conflict between Georgia and Russia.  We reiterate that there is no military solution to the unresolved conflicts.  We remind all parties that peaceful conflict resolution is a key principle of the Partnership for Peace Framework Document.

We remain concerned by Russia's actions during this crisis and remind Russia of its responsibility for maintaining security and order in the areas where it exercises control, especially in light of continuing reports of Russia’s deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure.  Russian military action has been disproportionate and inconsistent with its peacekeeping role, as well as incompatible with the principles of peaceful conflict resolution set out in the Helsinki Final Act, the NATO-Russia Founding Act and the Rome Declaration.  We call on Russia to take immediate action to withdraw its troops from the areas it is supposed to leave under the six-principle agreement signed by President Saakashvili and President Medvedev1.  The Alliance is considering seriously the implications of Russia’s actions for the NATO-Russia relationship.  In 2002, we established the NATO-Russia Council, a framework for discussions with Russia, including on issues that divide the Alliance and Russia.  We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual.  We call on Moscow to demonstrate – both in word and deed – its continued commitment to the principles upon which we agreed to base our relationship.

We reaffirmed our commitment to the decisions taken by Heads of State and Government at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, including those regarding Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, and we will continue our intensive engagement with Georgia to address in December the questions pertaining to its Membership Action Plan application, taking into account developments until that time.

Who ordered the invasion of Georgia, and how?

Writing in his blog, Marko Mihkelson, head of the Estonian parliament's EU affairs committee, asks (my tr.):

Do you know who decided to start the military invasion of sovereign Georgia, and how?

Paragraph d) of Part 1 of Article 102 of the Russian Constitution, which has been in force since December 1993, states specifically that permission to use the armed forces outside the territory of the Russian Federation is given by the upper chamber the Federation Council. Was such permission given? No, as you can see on the upper chamber’s home page. Thus it is no exaggeration to suppose that by sending troops into Georgia, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev violated the constitution of his state.

In fact, this is sadly a clear demonstration of how undemocratic, secretive and unpredictable the decision-making mechanisms in modern Russia are. Prime minister Vladimir Putin was first to announce the start of military operations, and did so on the basis of public rhetoric He was followed, with a similar statement, by President Dmitry Medvedev.

If someone did make a decision authorizing an invasion, then we don’t know when this happened, or in which chamber (it might have been the Security Council, for example). When in 1994 President Boris Yeltsin sent troops to Chechnya, which lay within the borders of his State, he had to go at least through a meeting of the Security Council. But now we are talking about an independent state, and for this the Constitution stipulates that there must be a decision of parliament.

It's obvious, however, that the Russian armed forces were ready for a rapid incursion into Georgia’s territory. The invasion took place less than a day after the alleged emergence of a pretext.

Against the backdrop of the events in Georgia President Medvedev has become a manifest shadow of President Putin. One should remember that a few days later, Medvedev announced that the military operation had been completed, and yesterday that Russian troops were leaving Georgian territory. But in reality everything is different.

Immediately after being elected president, Medvedev pledged the rule of law in Russia. Unfortunately, since the head of state himself has ignored the provisions of the Constitution, this is not convincing, The constitutional court’s opinion on the legality of the attack sounds more made-to-order than independent.

NATO-Georgia Commission to be formed

At a press conference in Brussels today, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer announced the project for the formation of a new NATO-Georgia Commission, to be set up in consultation between NATO and the Georgian government. The new Commission will be run on the same basis as the already-existing NATO-Ukraine Council.

The Secretary General said that there can be "no business as usual" with Russia, as it is currently occupying the territory of a sovereign state, Georgia, and is in violation of the 6-point peace plan which was brokered by the European Union and was signed by President Medvedev.

Russia blockades Poti, takes soldiers prisoner

Via IHT (C.J. Chivers and Andrew E. Kramer):

Russian soldiers in armed personnel carriers blockaded the main commercial port in the Black Sea town of Poti on Tuesday and took Georgian soldiers prisoner.

An explosion could be heard from the port, where Russian troops sank Georgian ships earlier this week. An Associated Press report said 22 Georgians were being held.

The situation was evolving, but if Russian forces have seized control of the port it is further evidence of continued Russian military activity on Georgian territory despite reassurances that they would withdraw.

Sky has more here.

Civil Georgia has a report here.