Further Reading
- Deutsche Welle
- Gazeta Wyborcza
- El País
- International Herald Tribune
- Irish Examiner
- Le Figaro
- Libération
- Scotsman
- Telegraph
Deutsche Welle reports that Georgia has called for deeper ties with the EU after European leaders threatened Russia with the suspension of negotiations on a new strategic partnership.
“What Georgia needs is to consolidate the gains we have made through tightened integration (with the EU),” the website quotes Lado Gurgenidze, Georgia’s prime minister, as saying on Tuesday after a meeting with EU external relations chief Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
Meanwhile, the Georgian ambassador to Poland has told Gazeta Wyborcza that Moscow’s action in the breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia was part of a campaign to overthrow Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili.
The paper quotes Ambassador Konstantin Kawtaradze. “The breakthrough moment was the Nato summit in Bucharest this spring that failed to offer Georgia and Ukraine MAP status, that is, a clear perspective of membership.
“Moscow took it as a clear sign that if it invaded its neighbour, the international community wouldn't react.”
And Le Figaro reports on comments made by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday night, when he said that his country did not recognise the Georgian regime.
He is quoted as saying, “For us, the Georgian regime is a failure. President Mikheil Saakashvili no longer exists, he is a political cadaver.”
The Scotsman says that in the same speech, Medvedev warned the west that it would suffer more than Russia if sanctions were imposed and that Moscow was not afraid of being expelled from the G8 group of nations.
While El País says that Moscow has commended the EU’s “responsible actions” at Monday’s summit – which stopped short of imposing sanctions against Russia – the Irish Examiner reports that Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin has warned that “there will be an answer” to the build-up of Nato ships in the Black Sea.
Meanwhile, the IHT says that Georgia is now looking to rebuild its military, reinforcing troop numbers to pre-7 August strength and modernising equipment.
The paper also says that officials at Washington’s state department are “examining” what would be required to help Georgia, but that no decisions had been made.
And in a story in the Telegraph, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin is said to have been voted most influential person in the world by US magazine Vanity Fair.
