Georgia wary of Russian encroachment

Moscow refers to it as "propaganda hysteria" whipped up by Tbilisi. But little by little Russia is nibbling away at Georgian territory. Despite the conciliating gestures of the prime minister, Bidzina Ivanishvili, who is anxious to normalise relations with his Russian neighbour, the border between Georgia and South Ossetia is definitely moving.

Russian troops, assisted by the Ossetian authorities, have put up barbed-wire fences along the demarcation line, purportedly moving it forward in some places. Last month the village of Ditsi witnessed a sudden flare-up that centred on this issue. Villagers complained about losing access to the cemetery, to farmland and a spring. Observers from the European Union Monitoring Mission called for restraint, but with scant resources they carry no weight. Nor are they authorised to intervene on the other side of the boundary.

The separatist province, which declared independence after a conflict in August 2008, is now under the financial and military control of Russia. The latter is in no mood to make any concessions as Georgia's presidential election, scheduled for the end of this month, approaches, marking the symbolic end of the Saakashvili era, 10 years after the rose revolution.

Indeed, Moscow is determined to persuade the Georgian authorities to join its Eurasian customs union, alongside Belarus and Kazakhstan. Behind the current pressure is the veiled threat of continuing regional instability, if Tbilisi seeks closer links with the EU.

Last month Georgia's foreign minister once again condemned the "illegal activities of the Russian occupation forces" near Tskhinval, the capital of South Ossetia. But Ivanishvili is in a quandary. For the past year he has been trying to reduce tension around the "occupied territories" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Ivanishvili claims full normalisation could take five to seven years and has repeated many times that Tbilisi is determined to regain control over these provinces, but without the use of force. He is counting on Georgia's assets to win over the two enclaves.

The Georgian opposition criticises the prime minister's docile attitude to Moscow, but he has a ready answer in the form of the Sochi winter Olympics, which Russia will be hosting next February. "Everything that's happening at present, including the barbed-wire fences, is connected to the Games," Ivanishvili asserts.

"The whole of Russia is focusing on the problem of how to organise the Games peacefully. And we are doing all we can to make that possible and to help them." Questioned about the barbed wire and trenches being dug in some places, he tenses up. "What should we do? Start a new war?"

The Georgian president puts a more radical spin on events. In his speech to the UN general assembly last month, Mikheil Saakashvili described Russia as the "an old empire ... trying to reclaim its bygone borders".

Two-thirds of the way through his speech, the Russian delegation stood up and walked out in protest. "Despite the friendly statements made by the new Georgian government in the recent weeks and months, the Russian military keeps advancing its positions, dividing communities with new barbed wires," he insisted.

Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, dismissed this speech as "Russophobic" and called for a "professional assessment" of Saakashvili's mental health.

This article appeared in Guardian Weekly, which incorporates material from Le Monde