Georgia: Saakashvili Says Mistral Sale Threatens Eastern European Security

The sale of the French-made Mistral class warship to Russia could give Moscow a fee hand to attack "any country" in Eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union "within hours," Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said during a recent speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, news outlets reported.

Tbilisi has strongly opposed the Mistral deal, contending that the sale, already approved by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, contradicts France's assumed position as the "honest broker" of the ceasefire that ended the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Saakashvili said he hopes to meet with President Sarkozy to lobby against the 433-million-euro (about $605.7 million) sale, a deal already criticized by Georgia's Eastern European allies and the Pentagon, The Times Online reported on February 19.

During his Royal Institute speech, given February 17, Saakashvili also expressed misgivings about a French company's plans to sell armored personnel carriers to Russia.