Georgia, Tbilisi / corr. Trend N. Kirtskhalia/ "We are very concerned about the possible provocation regarding the general situation around Kosovo," Mikhail Saakashvili, the President of Georgia said to journalists commenting on whether Georgia will recognize the independence of Kosovo.
"No one has asked us anything in this regard up to now. It is not the biggest problem that Georgia has to consider. We will follow the situation carefully enough and our actions will depend on how difficult the situation is," the President said. "We heard concrete statements where analogies were drawn between Kosovo and the regions of Georgia which is currently being controlled by separatists," Saakashvili said. According to the President, there is a big difference between what happened in Kosovo and the situation in present-day Georgia.
"The residents of Kosovo are the victims of the ethnic cleansing, however, the separatists in Georgia are themselves the source s of the ethnic cleansing. Everyone is well aware of the events that took place in Georgia after the 90s in which 80% of the population of Abkhazia had to flee their homes as a result of bombings from Russian planes. All these were part of the operations of the remaining Soviet Army to separate Abkhazia from Georgia. The situation is somewhat cynical, some people want to legalize the ethnic cleansing by the example of Kosovo, which was committed in the last century and was one of those that have been forgotten," Saakashvili said.
He is sure that Georgia and the international community will never agree with it, otherwise it will put an end to the international order and will be a gross violation of international law and human rights.
Meanwhile, the President noted that the politicians will hardly risk destabilizing the situation in the Caucasus. " Russia is well aware of the causes of the conflict and that the ethnic cleansing was committed by the remaining soviet army and the legalization of ethnic cleansing will pose a threat for the whole region. We should be very careful in the pre-election period in Russia and in case the independence of Kosovo is recognized," the President said.