Armenia: Saakashvili Visit to Yerevan Produces Lots of Smiles, Little Action

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili arrived in Armenia touting a "bright future" for bilateral relations. But now that his two-day visit is over, experts say the visit failed to make much headway on two issues that are a source of friction between the states -- relations with Russia and the fate of ethnic Armenians in Georgia.

Tension in bilateral relations generally remained beneath the surface while Saakashvili was in Yerevan on June 24-25. Saakashvili, for example, expressed readiness to comply with Armenia's desire for the reopening of the Upper Lars border-crossing point that divides Georgia and Russia. Saakashvili pledged immediate action on Tbilisi's part as soon as Moscow agreed to reopen its side of the frontier to trade. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan stressed that Yerevan considered the border reopening to be a vital economic priority, given Russia's importance as an importer of Armenian produce.

Behind the optimistic rhetoric voiced by Saakashvili and Sargsyan on the border issue, the stark difference in the two countries' relationships with Russia was readily evident. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Armenia has been one of Russia's most reliable friends among Commonwealth of Independent States members. Georgia, on the other hand, has been the Kremlin's chief antagonist. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

In Yerevan, Saakashvili characterized Russia as a source of instability in the Caucasus and tacitly urged Armenia and Azerbaijan to settle their dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh. The best path to prosperity, the Georgian president suggested, was via close trilateral cooperation among Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. "The Caucasus needs to unite," he said.

Saakashvili's trial balloon fell flat, however. Sargsyan did not pick up on the Caucasus unity theme, and instead hammered away on the need for Tbilisi and Moscow to settle their mutual differences. He described a Georgian-Russian rapprochement as being in "our national interest." The clear implication of Sargsyan's statements was that Yerevan was not going to downgrade its relationship with Moscow any time soon.

"We [want to] deepen our relations with both Russia and Georgia and do that overtly and open-faced, without hesitation or any veil of secrecy," Sargsyan said.

The two leaders also discussed the situation involving the ethnic Armenian community living in Georgia's Javakheti region. Armenians in the area have long complained of suffering from cultural discrimination.

Saakashvili addressed the Javakheti issue head-on during an appearance at Yerevan State University on June 25, vigorously defending his government's record. He pointed out that Tbilisi had poured a disproportionately high level of development assistance into Javakheti, aiming to improve the region's roads and modernize its gas distribution grid. "No region in Georgia has received as much investment as Javakheti has in recent years," Saakashvili insisted.

Sargsyan officially offered thanks to Saakashvili for the Georgian government's efforts in Javakheti. But this expression of appreciation caused ire among some in Yerevan. For example, Eduard Abrahamian, an analyst at the Mitq Research Center in Yerevan, said Sargsyan's decision not to press Saakashvili on the Javakheti issue could heighten inter-ethnic tension in the territory.

"We have serious problems [in Javakheti], despite the fact that Serzh Sargsyan expresses his gratitude to Saakashvili. Problems will not be solved this way, they will rather get deeper," Abrahamian said.

Other analysts suggested that it was unrealistic, given the current geopolitical conditions in the Caucasus, to expect Georgia and Armenia to make substantive progress on the issues that divide them. "This was just a formal official visit without serious perspectives," opposition analyst Suren Sureniants told EurasiaNet.