PROMISE: 2005 - “We have had Russian troops in Georgia for 200 years. There is no point in this for Russia, and for Georgia it is a risk…. We are prepared to talk about two years or even three years [for the Russian base withdrawal], but I intend to resolve this issue during my term of office as stipulated by the constitution and I'm not going to make any concessions in this regard.”

- President Mikheil Saakashvili
May 3, 2005

RESULT: 2005 - On May 23, Tbilisi and Moscow announced an agreement for the withdrawal of Russia's bases from Akhalkalaki and Batumi by 2008. Under the plan, troops and hardware will be redeployed to a Russian base in Armenia. On June 3, in a move to show Georgia's willingness for "good neighbor relations" with Russia, President Saakashvili invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to visit Tbilisi.

PROMISE: 2004 - “ I'm going to ensure that during the term of my presidency the road from Tbilisi to Akhalkalaki and the [Georgian-Turkish] border is built. It will become a very important transport link. We will be able to reach Turkey much faster, which is important for our trade. What is more important, people in these districts populated by [ethnic] minorities will have a feeling that they are a part of the Georgian state.”

- President Mikheil Saakashvili
November 23, 2004

RESULT: 2005 - The U.S.-backed Millennium Challenge Account reportedly will launch the multi-million-dollar roads project in September 2005 with construction beginning simultaneously from Tbilisi and the Turkish border. As of May, a feasibility study for the project was reportedly underway.

PROMISE: 2005 - “We are not planning to open a new military unit there, but we are offering them [people employed at the 62nd Russian military base] places in nearby units… so that they serve in the Georgian armed forces. For those who do not want to do that, we will have a separate program of social rehabilitation . . . such as business and other programs, so they do not feel they are losing out.”

- President Mikheil Saakashvili
April 28, 2005 meeting with Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Artur Bagdasaryan

RESULT: 2005 - On May 30, Tbilisi and Moscow announced that Russia’s bases would be withdrawn from Georgia by the end of 2008. Local Armenians, however, maintain a wait-and-see perspective. The base’s withdrawal could not only shift the region’s demographic composition more heavily in favor of Georgians, but undermine the local economy.

PROMISE: 2005 - “We are willing to adopt internationally accepted standards on the language issue. “

- President Mikheil Saakashvili
April 18, 2005 interview with EurasiaNet

RESULT: 2005 - Ethnic Armenians declare that they do not know Georgian because of the population’s isolation and subsequent lack of Georgian language teachers. Meanwhile, the Georgian government has pledged to meet a September 2005 deadline to ratify a Council of Europe convention that stipulates that ethnic minorities be given “adequate opportunities” for instruction in their own language.