Saakashvili hopes for Russian assistance in returning refuges to Abkhazia

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili presented a report at a session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on January 28. He emphasized he was hoping for Russian assistance in returning refugees to Abkhazia. This will help to resolve the problem of re-establishing the railway service which runs across the Abkhazian territory. Both Russia and Armenia are hopeful that the railway service will be fully re-established.

Mr Saakashvili also said that Russia had played a negative role in Georgia's formative years as an independent state and that was partly connected with the situation in Abkhazia. "However, the situation is gradually changing and this is thanks to the current Russian leadership and its new policy," he added. The Georgian leader reiterated that the two countries shared the common history and culture and he was prepared to pursue constructive relations with Russia. Nevertheless, he stressed that Russia had still not fulfilled its obligation to withdraw its troops from the Georgian territory.

Speaking about the Georgian foreign policy, Mr Saakashvili declared, "Georgia will be neither pro-Russian nor pro-American. It will be pro-Georgian and European." At the same time he stressed that Georgia would never forget the assistance that the US had provided to it at the period difficult for the country. The president claimed his priority was to rid Georgia of corruption and destitution and the nation's ambition was to be a member of the European Union.

It should be noted that a genuinely celebratory reception awaited Mr Saakashvili and his Dutch wife, Sandra Roelofs when they arrived in Strasbourg and PACE members did not hide their satisfaction at the so-called "velvet revolution". Secretary General of the Council of Europe Walter Schwimmer presented Mr Saakashvili with a medal that allows him to attend PACE sessions whenever he likes. In his turn, Mr Saakashvili presented Mr Schwimmer with a golden rose, the symbol of the Georgian revolution.