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They called it "The revolution of the roses". It was 23 November 2003 when president Shevardnadze was compelled to resign. He was previously the foreign affairs minister of USSR at the time of Gorbachov. He was president of Georgia since 1992, one year after independence from USSR. According to the opposition parties and many international observers his confirmation as president was rigged by heavy fraud during the elections of 2 November.
This was the final straw that broke the camel's back. The Georgian population
could not take it any longer, due to the long suffered humiliation of corruption
in the leading class, that the president had not been able (or did not want)
to stop.
The term" revolution of the roses" indicates that all had happened
without spilling of blood and in a peaceful manner, as bishop Pasotto, Apostolic
Administrator of the Caucasus, has witnessed: "…
a revolution of a people who managed to change a political situation, to force
the government to resign, …through the persistent presence in the square
of an atmosphere of feast,… and the roses that were offered to the soldiers,
carried high as people entered the parliament…All this caused to happen
what other people think it should happen only through "other more convincing
means" ".
However
many think that had Russia not agreed on this, in unison with the USA, the opposition
would not have acted in such a unanimous and determined fashion, nor the army
would have remain still and just looking at. Bishop Pasotto in an interview
at Vatican Radio, commented the words of the Russian foreign minister Ivanov:
"What was perceived was that he had come from Russia with an agreement
already decided upon with the USA." Russia had sent its foreign minister
to Georgia on the morning of the day following the incursion of the opposition
into parliament. The aim was explicit: to help Georgia to find a peaceful solution
to its crisis. In the end, Ivanov had simply manifested to Shevardnadze that
the best thing for him to do was to set aside.
It is common knowledge that Russia does not like the policy of Shevardnadze.
Immediately after Georgia's political independence, Shevardnadze began to make
his country independent from Russia economically and militarily. He had also
begun to strike deals with NATO for military protection. He had agreed with
Azerbaijan to lay an oil pipeline that through Georgia would carry oil from
the Caspian sea to the Black sea. This last move irritated Russia, which was
planning to let the oil and gas pipelines pass through its own territory, and
so benefit of large economic advantages.
Georgia occupies very important strategic position, as it extends horizontally
along the Caucasus range. For this it is looked at with interest both by Russia
and USA. G. Bensi, a correspondent of L'Avvenire, is of the opinion that Russia
is intending to keep a hold on Georgia and has already threatened it to intervene
militarily unless it stops giving asylum to Chechnian guerillias. From 1992
the USA have helped Georgia with a grant of almost a billion dollars, trusting
very much on Shevardnadze as a guarantor of stability in his country, with the
view of letting the oil pipelines pass through Georgia from the Caspian sea
to the Mediterranean, thus removing Russia's influence (that is a major rival
in the oil business).
But lately USA have reduced the amount of monetary help because of the inability of Tbilisi's government to apply the brakes to the rampant corruption, and have manifested more favour towards the opposition. Beside, Georgia is plague with a series of unresolved internal problems: apart from the squalid socio-economic situation, there persists the conflict with the two autonomous regions of Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia that belong to Russia. This last region has in the past supported the request of annexation of the regions to the Russian Federation. In the past Shevardnadze has much exploited this rivalry between Russia and USA, but the recent accord struck between Russia and USA on the plan of combating terrorism, has convinced Bush and Putin to set aside other causes of disagreement: the policy of Shevardnadze was one of these. Because of this the ex-president had declared: "I feel betrayed by our American friends".
However, after the fall of Shevardnadze, Russia and USA have immediately tried to win the favour of the present political leaders of Georgia, who this January face the presidential election.
The USA defense minister Donal Rumsfeld did not waste time and on 6 December
he flew to Georgia to meet the new leaders.
His visit, according to the observers is a clear sign of the influence that
Washington has already acquired in the "courtyard" of Russia. Not
by chance the Russian foreign minister Ivanov has defined the America visit
as an attempt to pressurize the Georgian leadership.
In the mean time Washington has increased his military help both to Georgia
and Azerbaijan, which is another pawn of extreme importance in the Caucasus.
USA have thrown all their weight on the balance plate of the new leaders - Mikhail
Saakashvili and Nino Budzharnadze - while expressing their worries, as Russia
seems to side with the separatist movements, to destabilize the country, before
January election. Before the end of his meeting with the interim-president Burdzhardnadze
and the leader of the opposition Saakashvili, Rumsfeld has asked for the withdrawal
of 800 Russian troops from Georgia.
Now we shall see the result of the election and the new president's policy and
hope for a true independence both economic and political. Otherwise the "Georgian
roses", after having enjoyed the bright sun, will be destined to survive
in the "Russian-American green house".
