Georgia's defense minister has said that negotiations to acquire air defense systems remain underway, contrary to claims from his predecessor that Russia scuttled attempts to buy such weaponry from the West.
Last week, ex-defense minister Irakli Alasania held a press conference to air allegations that, in deference to Russia, the government sabotaged his efforts to acquire air defense systems from France. The political fallout continued this week, doing nothing to clear up the political controversy but shedding some more light on what is by all accounts one of Georgia's most critical military priorities.
"Over the past 22 years, air defence has been our 'Achilles' heel,'" Alasania said in a TV interview, reported BBC Monitoring. "Therefore, when I came to the [Defence] Ministry, the first thing I did together with our military men was to determine air defence as our top priority. This was a system of exclusively defensive character, and I openly spoke about it in my plans."
Irakli Aladashvili, Georgia's leading defense journalist, noted that Alasania said that the air defense system he had negotatied with France would be able to shoot down any kind of Russian aircraft, as well as Iskander ballistic missiles (which were reportedly used for the first time against Georgia in 2008). Aladashvili concludes:
Ex-Minister of Defense’s boast of the French anti-aircraft system being able to shoot down even the Russian “Iskander” missiles makes us think that he aimed to obtain the modern French anti-air system SAMP/T because only the Aster 30 type of active radiolocation targeting missiles are able to shoot down helicopters and planes at the altitude of 25 km and the distance of 100 km as well as destroy the Russian “Tochka-U” tactical ballistic missiles within the 35 km radius. The Aster 30 anti-aircraft missile may also be used against the more modern “Iskanders” as well, but at an even closer range.
Aladashvili said that not only would such a system be expensive, but it would be difficult to acquire politically, citing "the unofficial embargo declared by majority of European countries against Georgia after the 2008 war. Europe decided to refrain from irritating Russia further and refused to sell military equipment to Georgia’s army."
Which raises the question: if France would refuse to sell these to Georgia because of a fear of irritating Russia, why would Russia need to block this from the Georgian side? (Overall, this story still has far more questions than answers.) But in his TV interview, Alasania explicitly said that his former boss, Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, whom he blames for thwarting the agreement, did so due to Russian considerations:
"I did not discuss the issue with former Prime Minister," Alasania said. "At that time, he was not prime minister. I respect state institutions and therefore, I discussed the issue with the person who was bearing official responsibility for it - Irakli Gharibashvili. While I was paying a visit to France, he probably had a meeting with Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is de facto prime minister and who strictly forbade the acting prime minister from concluding the agreement... Several months prior to this, in the Russian Federation, they had started expressing concern about this, raising questions: 'Why does Georgia need the air defence system?' 'What is it going to defend itself from?' 'This is going to be an irritating factor in our relations,' and so forth."
Alasania's team also took aim at the statement by the French ambassador to Tbilisi that no agreement had been signed, contrary to Alasania's claim. Alasania's wife, Natia Panjikidze, published several photos on her facebook page, captioned “Will the French Ambassador deny this as well?” purporting to show Alasania and French officials signing a document. "Presumably, the photos published by Mrs. Panjikidze reflect the signing of a memorandum between the Georgian and French parties," Aladashvili concludes.
Meanwhile, in an appearance before parliament, Mindia Janelidze, the current defense minister, denied Alasania's claim that any deal had been scuttled. “This is absurd. Nothing has been thwarted,” Janelidze said. “Everything goes on as planned. Much talk on these issues publicly will only damage the process. ... Active consultations are underway not just with one, but several partner states, to increase our air defense capabilities."
All clear now?
Joshua Kucera, a senior correspondent, is Eurasianet's former Turkey/Caucasus editor and has written for the site since 2007.
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