GeorgiaÆs Uranium Scandal: A PR Campaign for Reunification?

A uranium smuggling incident is providing fresh fuel for the long-running Georgian-Russian feud.
Russian officials have termed news of Georgia's uranium smuggling investigation "a provocation." Meanwhile, Georgian analysts believe the incident may provide new momentum for the Georgian government's efforts to restore its authority over the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

At present, Russian peacekeepers are responsible for maintaining a semblance of order in the two separatist entities. Georgian officials appear intent on using news of the uranium smuggling attempt to garner support for the replacement of the Russian peacekeepers with a multinational force. Such a move would significantly reduce Russia's geopolitical leverage over Georgia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

From the outset, the Georgian government has maintained the uranium smuggling scandal exposes a need for greater international control over separatist South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In a January 25 statement, released the day information about the year-long investigation became public, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs charged that the arrests of four alleged uranium smugglers – one Russian, three Georgian – underscored the lack of control over the mountainous borders that run between Russia and the two contested territories. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

"[I]t should be emphasized that uncontrolled separatist territories in Georgia serve as a safe haven for illegal activities related to proliferation of different components of weapons of mass destruction," the ministry declared. "This is one of the reasons why the government of Georgia has long sought [the] stationing of international observers on the segments of its border with the Russian Federation adjacent to Georgia's separatist territories of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia."

Mamuka Areshidze, chairman of the Caucasian Centre of Strategic Research in Tbilisi, and Dr. Archil Gegeshidze, a senior fellow at the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, noted that the announcement about the smuggling case is "probably" part of a larger strategy by the Georgian government to emphasize to the outside world the need for concrete action on its concerns about the two territories. Georgia's accusations about uranium smuggling come on the heels of charges that a counterfeiting operation, responsible for manufacturing at least $42 million in $100 bills, exists on South Ossetian territory. The separatist leadership in the South Ossetia has rejected Tbilisi's accusation.

"[I]t is worthwhile for the Georgian government to continuously try and bring international attention to the fact that these regions are not controlled and [that] they can create instability throughout the region," Areshidze said.

Information about the 100 grams of weapons-grade uranium -- reportedly transported to Georgia via South Ossetia -- has run in parallel with a slew of fresh statements from President Mikheil Saakashvili's administration about its intentions toward both South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

In a televised speech on January 25, the day the government released information in Tbilisi about its investigation, Saakashvili told viewers that "[t]he time has come for us to prepare to take much more decisive steps forward" for "the final reunification of our country." Residents of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, "are still being held hostage by a gang of criminals, as are our citizens who reside in the surrounding villages," Saakashvili charged in remarks broadcast by television station Rustavi-2.

"[O]ur Abkhazia," he continued, "is in the hands of people who impudently