DATE=4/23/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=GEORGIA GEOPOLITICS
NUMBER=5-46183
BYLINE=PETER HEINLEIN
DATELINE=SHATILI, GEORGIA
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Russia's military offensive in Chechnya is
being watched with concern by other countries in the
region. But nowhere is the war more troubling than in
neighboring Georgia. Georgian authorities say they
fear the fighting could spill over into their
territory when the snow melts in the high Caucasus
mountain passes along the frontier. V-O-A's Peter
Heinlein reports from the Russia-Georgia border that
the coming spring thaw has potentially explosive
implications in a region where superpowers are
maneuvering for influence and strategic strength.
TEXT: ///sfx of four wheel drive vehicle, then fade
and hold to.///
The road linking Georgia with Russia's breakaway
Chechnya region is little more than a dirt track
snaking along the floor of the Argun River canyon. It
takes a sturdy four-wheel drive vehicle to ford the
stream as it rushes past Shatili, a tiny settlement
two kilometers from the international boundary.
///re-establish sfx of vehicle fording river, then
under to.///
On the other side of the river, a Georgian border
guard station soon comes into view, nestled in the
hills. The vehicle stops. Our guide, Guard Colonel
Valery Gomilko, points upward toward the towering
peaks on the other side, rising hundreds of meters.
There, the outlines of several bodies are visible
against the bright blue sky.
///Gomilko act in Georgian, then fade to.///
He says, "You can see them clearly with binoculars."
It is a group of Russian guards, standing on the
ridge, watching the movement below. They wave when
they see us looking at them.
There has been no traffic - civilian or military -
through the mountains since December, when snow closed
the three-thousand meter high passes. But Georgia is
clearly worried that spring will bring another mass
exodus of refugees trying to escape the war in
Chechnya. Seven-thousand made it across before the
snows came.
/// OPT ///
Doctor Mikhail Chincharauli, who lives in Shatili,
says the echo of gunfire and the roar of warplanes are
a constant reminder that a war is being waged just a
few kilometers away.
///OPT Chincharauli act in Georgian, then fade to.///
He says, "We know there is fighting and we hear the
bombs exploding. At the beginning (of the conflict)
our territory was bombed. We heard it and saw it."
/// END OPT ///
Concerns about a spillover of the Chechen war prompted
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze to request an
observer mission from the Organization for Security
and Cooperation (O-S-C-E) in Europe. After Moscow
accused Georgia of providing covert aid to Chechen
rebels, the O-S-C-E dispatched a nine-person observer
force to Shatili to monitor the 80-kilometer long
frontier.
But it is a big job. United States Army Major Jerry
Thomas, a member of the O-S-C-E mission, says the
group's main objective is simply to make any would-be
invaders think twice.
/// THOMAS ACT ///
We hope the presence of an international force
here will cause somebody to stop and take
thought before they actually do something. If
we saw refugees we would do nothing but report
it. If we saw fighters, we would do nothing but
report it. I expect the best, and am prepared
for the worst.
/// END ACT ///
The Georgian government is also preparing for the
worst. In addition to the O-S-C-E mission, border
guards are being strengthened, and several western
countries, including the United States, are providing
equipment and technology.
/// OPT /// Central Intelligence Agency Director
George Tenet and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
are among senior western officials who visited the
capital, Tbilisi in recent weeks. /// END OPT ///
Zviad Mirgathia, a foreign policy expert for Georgia's
parliament, says the Chechen war is prompting unease
about Russia's intentions in the Caucasus, especially
in former Soviet republics such as Georgia.
/// MIRGATHIA ACT ///
Russia is reasserting itself in the region.
Russia is a hegemonic country and finds it
imperative to increase its influence over the
region.
/// END ACT ///
President Shevardnadze's senior foreign policy
adviser, Gela Charkviani, says the danger of a
spillover of hostilities has prompted Georgia to ask
for a sharp increase in the size of the O-S-C-E
observer mission.
/// CHARKVIANI ACT ///
We do get promises that Russia will do all in
its power to prevent any kind of a spillover.
But on the other hand, we understand the
limitations that the Russians have, which means
that when the snow melts, it will be difficult
to completely seal the border, /// OPT /// So
you can envision a scenario in which some
Chechen "boeviks" could cross the border and
come into Georgian territory. /// END OPT ///
But what is important is that they should not be
chased by some Russian army.
/// END ACT ///
/// OPT /// Another concerned Georgian is parliament's
foreign relations committee chairwoman Nino Bujaladze.
She says if her country is dragged into the Chechen
conflict, it would be the beginning of a large
Caucasian war. /// END OPT ///
There is no question that Georgia has tremendous
strategic significance, given the great outside
interest in the vast energy resources around the
nearby Caspian Sea. A recent report by the U-S based
Carnegie Endowment for Peace calls the southern
Caucasus "the most explosive region of the former
Soviet Union."
Adviser Gela Charkviani says President Shevardnadze
must put aside old animosities and redouble efforts to
repair the strained relationship with Moscow. It is
imperative because, as he explains "Russia understands
that if they have control over Georgia, they have
control over the region." (Signed)
NEB/PFH/GE/ALW/JO
23-Apr-2000 10:54 AM EDT (23-Apr-2000 1454 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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