Transcript of Ass’t. Secretary Gordon and Foreign Minister Vashadze Press Questions and Answers
Vashadze: Hello everybody. We are very short on time because Mr. Gordon is meeting the president afterwards. We have had very useful and interesting talks. I want to say that Mr. Gordon’s visit to Tbilisi is a very significant event. We have discussed issues related to our bilateral relations, relations with international organizations, and also the Georgian-American charter. I’m happy to inform you that specific negotiations in order to gradually transform the charter into an action plan will begin in the near future. I don’t want to make my speech long. Therefore, I will give the floor to our guest. He will answer only two questions, because he has to leave our ministry soon. Thank you very much.
Gordon: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. I am delighted to be here. Thank you for receiving me. As the minister said, we had excellent talks a few minutes ago on U.S.-Georgian relations. I would also like to say why I’m here. As I think many of you know, I have actually only been in office for about three weeks. But even at this early stage, or I should say particularly at this early stage, I wanted to make a trip to Georgia and emphasize our interest in Georgia and our support for Georgia, and that’s what I hope my presence here and my words with the minister and others will underscore. We stand by Georgia. We stand by its territorial integrity. We stand by its democracy and relationship with the United States. The minister also said we stand by the charter that our two countries have signed, and we would look forward to welcoming him soon in Washington to discuss further the different aspects of this relationship and the ways in which we can deepen it. So again, thank you so much for having me, I’m delighted to be here, and as the Minister said we are rushing off to see the President, but if there are a couple of questions I might be able to answer, or we might be able to answer, I’d be happy to do so.
Vashadze: Two questions.
Question: Vasili Ivanov, Georgia’s Public Broadcaster.
Mr. Gordon, the Russian Federation has blocked extension of the OSCE mandate in Georgia. The Russian Federation wanted two separate OSCE missions to be formed in Georgia. What is your reaction please?
Gordon: You’re right that Russia blocked a proposal for an OSCE mandate in South Ossetia. We found that to be regrettable. The Greek chairmanship of the OSCE came forward with a reasonable compromise proposal that we supported—practically every member of the OSCE supported—[but] that Russia did not support. The blocking of that proposal meant that there are not observers in South Ossetia, which is indeed regrettable. It would have been important to have them there.
As you say, there are discussions going on in New York about a follow-on mission of the UN in Abkhazia and we hope that the Russians and all members of the Security Council will take the pragmatic view that ensures that the UN mission in Georgia continues, because it plays an important role. We need to know what is going on. We need to provide security and stability. So I hope very much that those discussions in New York about Abkhazia will be more fruitful than those that took place over South Ossetia.
Question: Lasha Chkhikvishvili, Rustavi 2 Broadcasting Channel. How much attention will be paid to the Georgian issue during the meeting between Presidents Obama and Medvedev? And will President Obama demand implementation of the six-point peace plan in light of speculations regarding threats of new Russian aggression against Georgia? And I will add one more question: how does the U.S. administration assess the situation in Georgia’s occupied territories?
Gordon: I can’t predict precisely what the presidents of the United States and Russia will discuss a few weeks from now. But I can tell you quite clearly that the United States does expect the cease-fire agreements to be respected. And I think president [Obama] will bring up Georgia in his discussions with Russia. They’ll talk about all events of global significance and Georgia is an important issue for the United States. So I think the president will raise it and will make clear that we do stand by Georgia’s territorial integrity and expect Russia to implement all of its agreements on Georgia.
Question: Temur Kighuradze, the Messenger, local English language newspaper. As far as we know you have met the Georgian opposition – parliamentary and non-parliamentary. How do you evaluate the political process in Georgia? How do you see a way out from the current political crisis in Georgia?
Gordon: One of the other messages I wanted to bring here beyond demonstrating our interest and support for Georgia, is our interest in seeing a democratic Georgia. That would be good for Georgia and good for Georgia’s aspirations to join Euro-Atlantic institutions. And we appreciate the fact that there have been political protests and a tense political environment. We also appreciate the way the government has shown restraint in dealing with those protests. And we encourage the Georgian government to pursue democracy and free media, free press, free speech, anti-corruption—these are principles that the United States always stands by. And the more Georgia can be a flourishing democracy, the more likely it is to be the Western partner that we value and we want to work so closely with.
Vashadze: Thank you. I want to add on my part, I would not advise you to use this term ‘political crisis’ so often, because you have not seen what a political crisis is because of your [young] age. What is now happening in Georgia is not a political crisis, it is a political process.
Question: Ana Broladze, Maestro Television. In your article “Don't Let the Rose Revolution Wilt” (published in 2005), you wrote that,“It would be a tragedy if Europeans and Americans allowed their own distractions and domestic politics to prevent them from helping to ensure democracy and stability in a region where the stakes are so high.” I’m interested, did you change your mind about this?
Gordon: I did write an article a few years ago … and I stand by the headline. I think the principles behind that are important and as I said in my answer to the previous question, the more democratic and free Georgia is, the better partner for the United States it is.
Question: I’ll ask in English. Helena Bedwell, Bloomberg News. You mentioned, regarding the UN, and you expressed your hope, right? But what exactly is the U.S. going to do to make sure that Georgia’s territorial integrity is not [compromised], when it comes to the UN resolution? And maybe you [Vashadze] can also respond…
Gordon: There are principles that we would like to see expressed. And, you know, to put it simply, the UN resolution needs to underscore the principle of Georgian territorial integrity. That’s something the United States supports. We want this resolution because we believe that the situation is better for all if there is a monitoring presence and that there are references to the principles that we believe in. So we will do everything we can to ensure a resolution that underscores those important principles.
Vashadze: Let me tell you briefly, Helena. Our ministry made this statement on a couple of occasions, that Georgia is never going to accept a resolution or a mission that will somehow violate legal status of the occupied territories. To achieve this, Georgia has some instruments that we are going to use. Thank you very much.