The tensions in Georgia-Russian relations flared up again when Georgia claimed it shot at a Russia plane intruding into its airspace. Russia flatly denied the incident and accused Georgia of trying to provoke it. The roots of this war of the words go back to April 1989 when the Soviet military used force to crush a pro-independence protest, killing 19 people. Since then Georgians have bore ill-will towards Russia.
Other factors and incidents have worsened things:
• Georgia depends on Russian oil. Before independence one of the reasons for Georgia’s relative affluence was cheap Soviet oil. Russian is arm-twisting Georgian on oil. It has raised prices. Georgia is trying to reduce this dependence by buying oil from Azerbaijan.
• The breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia are in a state of unrest and are clamouring for independence. Russia has peacekeepers there. Georgia has accused Russia of aiding these regions.
• Russian troops have been present in Georgia for centuries. But according to an agreement hammered out between the two countries, they will leave Georgian soil in 2008.
• Russia banned the import of Georgia’s main products - wine, mineral water and mandarin oranges - on health grounds in 2006.
• In the same year, Georgia arrested four Russian military officers based in Tbilisi for spying and expelled them. Russia recalled its ambassador and subsequently deported at least 130 Georgians on the basis of their immigration status.
• Russia has accused Georgia of aiding Chechen rebels and acting as a conduit for arms to Chechnya. Chechen rebels have often taken shelter in Pankisi gorge in Georgia. After Russia threatened to take cross-border military action in 2002, Georgia took moved against the Chechens and agreed to joint patrolling along the borders.
After independence Georgia has tried to keep Russia at arms length, while fostered closer ties with the west, which has irked Kremlin. It has been enthusiastic about an energy “corridor” across the Caucasus to the Caspian, bypassing Russian territory. It was one of the founders of the GUAM group of countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) established as part of attempts to counterbalance Russia’s influence in the region.
The US has sided with Georgia, albeit with caution. It has not tried to interfere in the wider Black Sea region’s frozen conflicts through the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (O.S.C.E.), as Russia holds the veto power in the body.
