Assistant Secretary Gordon’s readout of Secretary’s meeting with Georgian president (September 22)
Philip H. Gordon
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
New York, NY
September 22, 2009
[Excerpt on Georgia]
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: Okay. The Secretary had a meeting
with Georgian President Saakashvili. She emphasized the United States’ ongoing
and strong continued support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial
integrity, and our view that Russia should implement the terms of the ceasefire
agreements of last August and September the previous year.
She also made clear our view that there’s not a short-term
fix to the problems of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as much as we want Russian
troops to leave those territories as soon as possible, but that the best way
forward would be one of strategic patience whereby Georgia shows itself to be
an attractive place, a stronger, democratic --
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: Patience. Right.
We would – it would be nice if this problem could be fixed
immediately, but it can’t be. And instead, the way forward is, as I was saying,
for Georgia to become a prosperous, strong, democratic, attractive place.
The Secretary made clear that the United States does not and
will not recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and made clear to the Georgians
that we would continue to work with other members of the international community
so that other countries wouldn’t recognize as well. As you know, as of now
beyond Russia, it is Nicaragua and Venezuela, the only countries in the world
that have recognized.
The Secretary also underscored the importance of democracy
and welcomed the progress Georgia has made in strengthening its democracy, and
encouraged President Saakashvili to continue in that direction. Again, it’s
part of the same overall approach to make Georgia a stronger, more attractive
place and better partner of the West. We think it should continue down the road
of democratization, including in the areas of judiciary, media, electoral
reform, and so on.
That’s really the essence of it, I think. And I look forward
to your questions about the meeting.
QUESTION: Well, you seem to emphasize kind of strong,
prosperous, democratic (inaudible) several times, indicating that you don’t
think it’s that right now. So could you talk (inaudible) use specifics about
what more you’d like to see them do to become that?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: I think it is clear both that
Georgia has come an awful long way since the Rose Revolution in terms of
becoming, strong, prosperous, and democratic, but also that it has more work to
do. That was one of the messages that the Vice President, when he went to
Georgia, carried to the Georgians and to the world.
President Saakashvili explained how much progress they had
made. Indeed, when you look at factors of economic development and foreign
direct investment and corruption, Georgia has really made remarkable strides.
And that is important to recognize and we do recognize it, especially given
where Georgia was, not just at the end of the Soviet Union, but even at the
time of the Rose Revolution, on scores of foreign direct investment,
corruption, and media freedom was well behind.
So there is no question that they’ve made important progress.
But it’s also quite clear that they have further to go. And there are specific
areas of reform, some of which have been put forward by the government but not
yet implemented, on changing the electoral code, strengthening the parliament,
allowing for more media freedom. Those are the areas – a more independent
judiciary – those are the areas where the Secretary encouraged President
Saakashvili to make further progress.
QUESTION: (Inaudible.)
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: She mentioned judiciary specifically
and electoral code specifically, yes.
QUESTION: What was his response to this rather novel concept
of strategic patience that you just mentioned? It seems to me to be shorthand
for doing absolutely nothing, trying to make the Russians happy, just as many
people saw the missile defense decision, rightly or wrongly. Is he happy with
the idea of strategic patience?
QUESTION: Yeah. What is strategic patience?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: It is – I think the Georgian
president made clear that they understand that the basic principle there is
that there’s not a short-term or a military fix to this problem and it would be
a strategic mistake to seek one. And when you ask what they think of that, you
can ask them, but I think it --
QUESTION: Well, the last time around it didn’t go so well.
But I’m trying to figure out what he said – when she said to him the idea is to
do nothing strategic --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: Well, she didn’t say the idea is
to do nothing. Let’s be absolutely clear about that.
QUESTION: Well, I mean, she said to be patient.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: No, what she said is that we do
not and will not recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. We
do believe that Russia should implement the conditions of the August and September
ceasefires of 2008. And that means, in specific, reducing Russian troops to the
position – pulling back Russian troops to the positions they were before the
ceasefire. So those are very specific things that we want to see Russia do
right now.
Then she went on to make clear that we believe the best way
to achieve our common goal of seeing Abkhazia and South Ossetia not only not
recognized by others, but integrated into Georgia, which she made clear was our
goal, was to strengthen Georgia as a more attractive place, as a magnet for
these people to come back to Georgia. That’s what that is a reference to. And I
don’t think the Georgians have a different view of that.
QUESTION: Why shouldn’t one regard it as – even if it’s not
doing nothing, why shouldn’t one regard this as almost acquiescence in a
reality that is clearly most unpleasant to the Georgians?
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: Well, we certainly haven’t
acquiesced to the notion of independence. We have taken very active measures to
avoid it, not only in our own decision not to recognize, but we are active with
the rest of the international community to make sure that others don’t
recognize. And as I say, I think we’ve had pretty good success on that score.
Despite Russian pressure around the world to win over more recognition, as I
said, 99 percent of the international community does not recognize. And we are
working with our Georgian friends to avoid that outcome.
And in that sense, Russia hasn’t – you sometimes hear the
phrase about getting away with it. Well, they haven’t succeeded. I think they
hoped and expected to be much further along in terms of recognitions, and that
– and it hasn’t happened.
QUESTION: Well, but Georgia would like to be – would like to
be further along on, like, MAP and some of the other things that they wanted to
be integrated into the kind of NATO structures (inaudible) the West and all
this stuff. And I mean, it seems as if part of strategic patience doesn’t only
apply to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but also to NATO and all these other
things, that, kind of, Georgia is biding its time and --
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: I think we have been as engaged,
as – and active as you can be in working with Georgia on a whole range of
issues. So – and you can take the billion dollars in assistance that helped
save the Georgian economy, and that the Congress only recently approved the
final tranche of, which is a very, very important not just symbol, but measure
by the United States to strengthen Georgia and its independence and its prosperity.
We launched – in the very end of the Bush Administration,
they signed a declaration on strategic partnership, a charter, with Georgia
about how we work together in democracy, security, and all the rest. And we,
the Obama Administration, picked up on that, had the first meeting of the
commissions as part of that council when the Georgians came to Washington a
couple of months ago. We’re going to do the next round in Georgia. The Vice
President traveled out to Georgia to demonstrate our support. As I said, we’ve
been very active on the diplomatic front in terms of recognitions.
In terms of – you mentioned MAP and NATO – the previous
administration and all of the NATO allies agreed to set up a NATO-Georgia
Commission, which will meet twice a year. And we’ve actively pursued that as
well, as the agreement where – on which there was consensus among NATO as the
mechanism for NATO-Georgia relations.
So I think when you take all of that together, it’s hardly
sitting around and just hoping and in any way leaving Georgia on its own. I
think it’s – when you add it up, it’s a very active policy by the
Administration to stand by our friends in Georgia and their independence.
QUESTION: That’s it?
QUESTION: Thanks.
ASSISTANT SECRETARY GORDON: Thank you.
[end of excerpt]
See also
Remarks by Secretary Clinton and President Saakashvili at camera
spray before their meeting