Eurasia Insight:
CHECHEN INCURSIONS PROMPT FLARE-UP OF GEORGIAN-RUSSIAN TENSION
Irakly Areshidze: 8/07/02

Taking advantage of Georgia’s domestic turmoil, Russia is again exerting pressure on Tbilisi to accede to the deployment of Russian troops on Georgian territory, ostensibly to prevent incursions by Chechen rebels. Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov has criticized Georgia for allowing Chechen fighters to "operate with impunity" on Georgian territory. Georgian officials reject the accusation and are resisting the Russian demands. Many observers in Tbilisi believe that Russia’s actions are motivated more by a desire to retain a strategic foothold in Georgia than to contain the Chechen insurgency.

Russian military and political leaders have pressed for permission in recent weeks to introduce Russian troops into both the Kodori and Pankisi gorges, citing recent Chechen raids launched from those two areas. Russia maintains that Chechens utilize Georgian territory as a safe haven, and Moscow has characterized Georgia’s refusal to comply as evidence of the country’s lack of commitment to curbing international terrorism. "Official Georgian representatives have failed to provide comprehensive answers as regards the main problem – the fight against international terrorism," the ITAR-TASS news agency quoted Ivanov as saying August 4.

Georgian leaders, including President Eduard Shevardnadze, have dismissed the Russian demands. "When the war in Chechnya resumed, thousands of refugees, mainly women, children and the elderly, were forced into our country," Shevardnadze said in his weekly comments broadcast by Georgian radio on August 5. "A large-scale [Russian] punitive military operation in the [Pankisi Gorge] area is completely ruled out because such an operation would undoubtedly harm the civilian Chechen population."

Tbilisi has admitted that small numbers of Chechen fighters have utilized Georgian territory, but Georgian officials insist their country’s security forces are capable of preventing border crossings by insurgents. Shevardnadze said the fact that Georgian forces have detained over a dozen armed Chechens shows that Georgia is capable of controlling its own borders. Tbilisi has balked at a Russian demand for extradition of the Chechens, explaining that Russian law-enforcement officials had failed to provide evidence against the detainees.

Meanwhile, Georgian Security Minister Valeri Khaburzania accused Russian peacekeeping forces of engaging in arms trafficking, intending to sell sophisticated weaponry to Abkhaz separatists, the local English-language newspaper The Georgian Times reported. At a press briefing August 2, Khaburzania also said three Russian Interior Ministry personnel had been detained in the Pankisi Gorge.

Georgia and Russia have long wrangled over several issues, including Georgia’s lack of control over its borders and the presence of Russian military bases in Georgia. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive]. In the past, the presence of Chechen fighters in the Pankisi Gorge tended to draw most of Russia’s attention. Now, Russia is also scrutinizing the Kodori Gorge, which is the only part of the separatist Abkhazia region still under Georgian government control.

The latest flare-up in Georgian-Russian tension began in late July, when Russian border troops reportedly intercepted groups of Chechen fighters attempting to cross the Georgian-Russian frontier. On July 29, Georgian officials accused Russian aircraft of carrying out bombing raids in the Pankisi, a charge that Moscow denied. On July 31, a Russian military detachment was spotted setting up a camp in the upper Kodori Gorge. The Russian soldiers withdrew to Russian territory following negotiations led by Georgian Defense Minister David Tevzadze.

Since the initial incidents, Russian mass media have carried out an intensive media campaign against Georgia. An ITAR-TASS report July 30, for example, alleged that Georgian border guards helped Chechen fighters cross the frontier into Russia. Other reports have alleged that Georgian officials knew of the Chechen insurgents’ plans in advance, and purposely withheld the information from Russia.

Both the United States and the OSCE have expressed concern over the escalation of acrimony between Georgia and Russia. Washington "strongly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia," US State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said July 31. Aside from verbal warnings, however, it remains unclear just what steps the international community is prepared to take in support of Georgia’s sovereignty.

Georgia’s ability to resist Russian pressure is limited, largely because of Tbilisi’s dependency on Moscow for energy supplies, local political analysts contend. Georgia’s political turmoil also undermines the government’s ability to negotiate. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Some suggest Moscow’s pressure is designed to coerce Georgia into accepting a deal, under which Russia would be given a decade or more to close down its remaining military bases on Georgian soil. Others suggest Russia’s actions have larger geopolitical aims. Georgia in recent years has been trying to integrate with Western security structures. Tbilisi has repeatedly expressed a desire to explore NATO membership, and US military advisors now helping to train Georgian troops in anti-terrorism operations. Russia’s behavior is designed to send a signal to the United States that Moscow will take steps to prevent the erosion of its influence in the Caucasus, many Georgian analysts and politicians in believe.

Editor’s Note: Irakly Areshidze is a Visiting Fellow at the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute of the Johns Hopkins University School for Advanced International Studies in Washington. Views expressed in this analysis are those of the author and not of the institutions with which the author is affiliated.