Fixtures confirmed for U19 finals

Fixtures confirmed for U19 finals
Wednesday, 8 June 2005
The match schedule and television coverage for the
fourth UEFA European Under-19 Championship final
tournament – one of the highlights of the UEFA
calendar, which will be played in Northern Ireland
between 18 and 29 July – has been confirmed.

Two groups
The seven qualifiers from the Elite round, plus the
hosts Northern Ireland, were drawn into two groups of
eight at the finals draw, which was held at Belfast
City Hall on 3 June and conducted by UEFA Executive
Committee member Michel Platini and Northern Ireland
national team manager Lawrie Sanchez. Northern Ireland
are joined in Group A by Greece, Serbia and Montenegro
and Germany, while Norway, Armenia, France and England
will contest Group B.

Television coverage
The top two teams in each section progress to the
semi-finals, which will be held on Tuesday 26 July,
with the winners meeting in the final three days
later. Eurosport, UEFA’s television partner for youth
competitions, will broadcast nine of the 15 final
round matches, including both semi-finals and the
final.

Five venues
The tournament will be staged in five venues in and
around Belfast: Windsor Park (Belfast), The
Showgrounds (Ballymena), The Oval (Belfast),
Mourneview Park (Lurgan) and The Showgrounds (Newry).

Accreditation procedure
Media representatives wishing to cover the final
tournament should apply for accreditation on UEFA’s
website:
The online media accreditation procedure will be
closed on 13 July.

UEFA EUROPEAN UNDER-19 CHAMPIONSHIP
Final Tournament fixtures

Date Group Match Location Kick-off
Mon 18 July B FRA v ENG The Oval, Belfast 18.00
Mon 18 July A SCG v GER Showgrounds, Newry 20.00
Mon 18 July B NOR v ARM Mourneview Park,
Lurgan 20.00
Mon 18 July A NIR v GRE Windsor Park, Belfast 20.30
Wed 20 July A GRE v GER Mourneview Park, Lurgan 18.00
Wed 20 July A NIR v SCG Showgrounds, Newry 20.00
Wed 20 July B ARM v ENG Showgrounds, Ballymena 20.00
Wed 20 July B NOR v FRA Windsor Park, Belfast 21.00
Sat 23 July A GRE v SCG The Oval, Belfast 18.00
Sat 23 July A GER v NIR Showgrounds, Ballymena 18.00
Sat 23 July B ARM v FRA Mourneview Park, Lurgan 20.00
Sat 23 July B ENG v NOR Showgrounds, Newry 20.00
Tue 26 July Semi-final 1 Mourneview Park, Lurgan
17.30
Tue 26 July Semi-final 2 Showgrounds, Ballymena 20.30

Fri 29 July Final Windsor Park, Belfast 20.00

All kick-off times CET (local time one hour behind)
Matches in bold shown on Eurosport

www.uefa.com/uefa/MediaServices/Accreditation

BAKU: Hadjiyeva: Document of int’l crisis group tells on deliberateo

Today, Azerbaijan
July 16 2005

Gultekin Hadjiyeva: Document of international crisis group tells on
deliberaye order against Azerbaijan

15 July 2005 [09:25] – Today.Az

The conference dedicated to the prospects for solution of the
Karabakh conflict has taken place in Tbilisi, and has been organized
by the International Crisis group.

Representatives of Azerbaijan and Armenia took part in the event as
experts, member of the Azerbaijani delegation to PACE, the Milli
Mejlis deputy Gyultekin Hadjieyva told Trend. They have not
represented any state body and joined the conference as private
individuals.

The topic of the conference?s discussions remains closed. It has been
stipulated in advance at the conference that due to the principal
character of issues touched upon in the document, not to disclose its
content to the public until it is completely ready. ?

?The document under discussion contradicts the interests of
Azerbaijan completely. Therefore I voiced my protest, as well as the
other representatives from Azerbaijan. Generally speaking, this
document is against the interests of Azebaijan, its preparation and
significance generate doubts. I see the deliberate order against
Azerbaijan?, Hadjiyeva concluded.

BAKU: Vafa Guluzade: “Referendum in NK should not be held”

Today, Azerbaijan
July 16 2005

Vafa Guluzade: “Referendum in Nagorno-Karabakh should not be held”

15 July 2005 [09:57] – Today.Az

The official Baku must not agree to hold a referendum in Nagorno
Karabakh, as this move will lead to the loss of the native territories
of Azerbaijan, the former state advisor on political issues of the
president of Azerbaijan, a political analyst Vafa Guluzade made such
a statement in his exclusive interview to Trend.

In his opinion, the OSCE Minsk group co-chairmen speak openly from
the anti-Azerbaijani positions and proposals, developed by them,
remain unchanged during the last ten years. “The Minsk group proposes
the Azerbaijani leadership to recognize the fact of the loss of
territories and make obvious surrender to Armenia, one of which is
signing the agreement on holding a referendum in the Nagorno Karabakh”,
a political scientist noted.

In the opinion of Guluzade, for today, the OSCE Minsk group prepared a
“very banal trick”, a referendum in Nagorno Karabakh has been proposed
to be held not immediately after returning the occupied territories
around the Upper Karabakh, but, say in 10 years.

“During the last census at the time of the collapse of the Soviet
Union, the Armenians in the Upper Karabakh exceeded in number the
Azerbaijani population, the political scientist reminded, having
underlined, that such referendum will mean the automatic seizure of
the part of the Azerbaijan’s territory, which is inadmissible.” In
the opinion of the former president’s state advisor, “such a step
will be equal to the high treason.”

Touching upon the Upper Karabakh status, Vafa Guluzade noted,
that any solution of the issue involves constitutional changes in
Azerbaijan. “The Constitution marks, that Azerbaijan is a unitary
state and changing of the basic law is possible only after holding a
referendum in the country”, the political scientist noted. “Peaceful
talks are the deception of the Azerbaijani public, and the status
of the Nagorno Karabakh may be only one – it is the integral part of
Azerbaijan”, summarized Guluzade.

In conclusion, the political analyst voiced the position in regard to
the proposals on bringing the international peacekeeping troops in the
region. “Bringing any peacekeeping troops to the region is fraught
with ruinous and fatal consequences for the integrity of Azerbaijan
and the issue must not be subject to discussion by the official Baku”,
Guluzade thinks.

URL:

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

http://www.today.az/news/politics/19986.html

BAKU: Azeri deputy transport minister: Armenia is not in transportbl

Today, Azerbaijan
July 16 2005

Azeri deputy transport minister: ?Armenia is not in transport
blockade?

15 July 2005 [09:44] – Today.Az

“Armenia is not in transport blockade,” Musa Panahov, the Deputy
Azerbaijani Transport Minister, told Trend on Thursday.

“Unless Armenia was in blockade, it would be unable to receive
cargo. Armenia receives necessary cargo via Georgia and Iran. So,
Armenia’s claims on its location in the transport blockade do not
meet the reality,” he noted.

As to the Sukhumi-Tbilisi-Yerevan route, it is only an idea. “This is
not the first year it is put forward, while the project remains to
an idea in connection with the unsettlement of political problems,”
the Deputy Minister underlined.

Panahov regarded the project as non-perspective, as the
Sukhumi-Tbilisi-Yerevan route was used during the Soviet period for
the passenger transportation. “However, the profile of routes did not
allow delivering goods via the route, which makes it unattractive,”
he underlined.

BAKU: Agreed element in talks on solving NK conflict is associatedwi

Agreed element in talks on solving Nagrno Karabakh conflict is associated with returning 5 regions

Today, Azerbaijan
July 16 2005

15 July 2005 [09:23] – Today.Az

The question of returning 5 regions of the occupied territories to
Azerbaijan has already been solved; this question is not the subject
of the talks held by means of the co-chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group
(MG).

This was informed to APA from the diplomatic sources. The source
noted that the Russian co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Yuri
Merzlyakov when saying ?Full consent was achieved on one element in
the talks on regulating the Nagorno Karabakh conflict? considered
that the sides reached a full agreement in the question of returning
five regions to Azerbaijan.

It should be noted that the source which name is not explained
informed in its explanation to APA given on May 12 that the Armed
Forces of Armenia gave their consent to withdraw in stages from the
Azerbaijani lands being under their occupation.

According to the information, ?The plan about Armed Forces? of
Armenia withdrawing from 7 occupied regions in stages was discussed
in the meeting held between the foreign affairs ministers of
Azerbaijan and Armenia and OSCE Minsk Group chairmen in London. The
Azerbaijani side delivered its changes proposed to the plan to the
chairmen of the Minsk Group and the co-chairmen discussed those
changes with Vardan Oskanyan. Then the latest variant agreed with
Armenia was presented to official Baku. The plan grounded upon the
?5+1+1? formula intends Armed Forces? of Armenia being primarily
withdrawn from five regions ? Gubadli, Zangilan, Fuzuli, Jebrail and
Aghdam. After these territories are given under the control of
Azerbaijan the peace agreement will be signed between the sides.
After the peace agreement is signed the Armed Forces of Armenia will
firstly leave Kelbajar, then Lachin.

The source informed in its explanation to APA given on May 12 that
the document was changed at the urgent request of the Azerbaijani
side in this form: ?If the process of withdrawing the armies is not
realized in accordance with the graphic after the agreement is
signed, then the signed document will automatically lose its
validity?.

Negligent donors let children starve in Niger – MSF

Negligent donors let children starve in Niger – MSF
By Matthew Green

AlertNet (by Reuters)
01 Jul 2005

MARADI, Niger, July 1 (Reuters) – International donors, including
the European Union, ignored urgent calls for food aid for Niger,
exposing thousands of children to the risk of dying of hunger, an
official at a medical charity said on Friday.

Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) said the landlocked West African country
issued a warning in November that the worst drought in years would hit
food supplies for more than 3 million people, but that rich countries
ignored its pleas.

“We have been in an emergency situation for at least three months,
and they haven’t responded,” said Doctor Mego Terzian, who heads
MSF’s feeding scheme in the southern town of Maradi.

The situation in Niger highlights Africa’s plight days ahead of next
week’s Group of Eight industrialised nations summit in Scotland,
where Britain plans to put fighting poverty on the continent at the
top of the agenda.

“It’s clear there have been deaths because there wasn’t an immediate
response,” he told Reuters. “I don’t know what happened. They knew
in October or November that there would be a food crisis, but they
didn’t react.”

When asked which donors he was refering to, Terzian named the European
Union — the biggest donor to Niger — and France, adding that other
countries should also urgently increase aid.

Severe drought and last year’s locust invasion that swept across much
of the Sahel zone south of the Sahara have devastated crops in Niger,
exposing more than a quarter of the population of 12 million people
to a food crisis.

“The problem is that the mobilisation by the international community
has been slow,” said Seidou Bakari, coordinator of the Niger
government’s food crisis unit. “We are doing what we can with what
little we have.”

“WE’RE NOT TO BLAME”

The European Union says it is the biggest single donor to Niger —
providing an average of about 90 million euros ($109 million) a year
in grants of both emergency and development aid. The former colonial
power, France, is the second biggest contributor.

“You can’t accuse us of doing nothing,” said EU spokesman Boubacar
Soumare. “We regularly contribute each year to the emergency food
stocks .. If everyone did the same as we do, then we wouldn’t need
emergency aid.”.

Soumare said the EU had signed a deal two weeks ago to provide 2.5
million euros in food assistance for Niger in 2005, alongside a 1
million euro contribution to the U.N. World Food Programme, which is
more than doubling aid to Niger.

A further 3.5 million euros is slated by the EU for food aid in 2006,
but aid workers fear that unless donors adopt far more ambitious
targets, then many lives will be lost.

MSF is mounting a major feeding operation to save thousands of
malnourished children from dying, but says its clinics may soon be
overwhelmed as hunger worsens in July and August, when rains encourage
malaria and diarrhoea.

Few other relief agencies have started work in Niger, while Paris-based
MSF says subsidised food provided by the government and U.N. World
Food Programme is only reaching a fraction of the needy, and many
cannot afford it.

MSF says that unless donors distribute free food aid now — changing
the current policy of selling it at below-market prices or lending
it for later repayment — death rates could rocket.

Arab states have offered help to Niger, where virtually the entire
population is Muslim. The government says Libya sent 300 tonnes of aid
including mineral water while Saudi Arabia sent 100 tonnes of dates.

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L01342303.htm

Anniversary In “A1+”

ANNIVERSARY IN “A1+”

A1+
15-07-2005

The number 365 gives the TV Company “A1+” a reason for being
proud. Today the graduates of the “A1+” higher courses received their
diplomas. They were there 25th group of the course organized by the
“Meltex” LTD.

The coursed organized for the workers of Television were founded 9
years ago, and this year the number of the graduates reached 265.
Among them there are not only journalists, but also operators,
managers, directors, editors, and sound directors.

At the initial stage of its existence, “A1+” was technically staffed
with the first graduates of this course. The other graduates work in
almost all the TV Companies of the Republic.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

The Long and Bloody History of Islamic Terrorism

ChronWatch, CA
July 16 2005

The Long and Bloody History of Islamic Terrorism
Written by Barbara J. Stock
Saturday, July 16, 2005

The Sunday morning pundits preach that the terrorist attacks around the
world continue because American troops remain in Iraq. These so-called
“experts” claim that Iraq is a training ground for attacks in Europe
and America. Have these armchair-terror-experts forgotten the 50-year
Islamic training ground called Israel?

These “experts” also seem to believe that this split between so-called
“moderate” Muslims and the Islamic terrorists is something new.
These “experts” have missed the mark by about 1300 hundred years.
The present Islamic terrorists are a result of the split within Islam
between Muslims who wish to live in the 21st century, secular Muslims,
and the followers of “True Islam” who want the world to be ruled by
Islamic Sharia law with the Quran as the new world constitution.

The recent attack in London proves the line between a “moderate”
Muslim and a terrorist is very, very thin. It seems with only a small
dose of “True Islam” a peaceful Muslim can become a mass murderer.

Islamic terrorism started long before there was an Israel.

Sunni and Shia Muslims have been killing each other since the death
of Mohammed.

Centuries ago, Islam ruled a large part of the world and Muslims had
spread out of the Middle East and moved across Europe, conquering all
in their path. At Islam’s pinnacle, the Ottoman Empire stretched from
Egypt to the Black Sea and from the Persian Gulf to Hungary.

So what happened to the glorious Islamic empire? Today, Islam blames
the Crusades, the Jews, Western culture, and Christians for its fall
from power. In truth, the most destructive enemy that Islam has ever
had was Islam itself.

As the world modernized around them, the Islamic leaders refused
to move forward with the rest of the world. Firmly believing in
Islamic superiority, the pompous ruling class of religious leaders
planted the seeds of hatred towards the West as far back as the 1700s.
The ruling Islamic religious leaders believed western inventions were
evil things created by evil and inferior people.

Any attempt to modernize the empire was put down by the ruling
Islamic body called the ulema which wanted to hold onto its power and
maintain Islam in its pure state. This meant no non-Muslim influence
of any kind.

It should be no surprise that the western advancements in warfare
eventually overwhelmed the archaic ways of Islam. The Islamic dream
of ruling the world, was over.

At the end of World War I, France and England carved up what was
left of the once great Islamic Empire. All that remained was Turkey.
It was the Islamic Turks who slaughtered over 1.5 million Armenian
Christians. The Turks blamed the Armenian Christians for assisting in
Islam’s fall from power. Islam has a long history of blaming others
for its failures.

The new leader of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal, wanted Turkey to join
the modern world and insisted on a separation of mosque and state,
something that infuriated the Islamic leaders. Kemal declared Islam
the national religion but did not allow the controlling and backward
ways of Islam to destroy the new country. The battle rages today in
Turkey between the Islamic leaders and the secular government.

Slowly, the Islamic leaders are winning.

By 1924, the glory days of Islam were over.

This inner battle for Islam stewed after the fall of the Ottoman
Empire and Middle East came under the influence of western culture.

Secular Arab governments, which accepted western modernization,
drove the followers of True Islam into a murderous rage.

Today’s terrorist movement started in 1928 with the founding of Ikhwan
al-Muslimun, the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, to oppose the Arab
secular governments that stripped the Islamic elite of its power.
This group, led by Hassan al-Banna, felt no Islamic country should
tolerate a secular government. Islam had always been the judge, jury,
and executioner over the people.

This militant group armed and trained itself and became such a problem
for the Egyptian government that the terrorist leader, al-Banna,
was executed but this only elevated him to martyrdom. The movement
grew in power and status.

In the 1950s, a new and extremely radical leader, Sayyid Qutb,
convinced his followers that the Quran justified the killing of fellow
Muslims. In his book, “Milestones,” he encouraged a jihad to remove
secular Muslim leaders and claimed it was the duty of all Muslims to
return Islam to its former power and glory. Following strict Islamic
law could only do this. Secular Muslims were put in a category with
Christians and Jews–they were infidels.

Sayyid Qutb was also executed by the Egyptians in 1966, but the
Islamic terrorist movement grew and expanded and now has branches
of loyal followers in over 70 countries around the globe and these
Islamic terrorists are more than willing to kill for their cause.

The embarrassing defeat of Islamic/Arab countries by the lowly
“monkey-Jew” in the 1967 Six Day War gave fuel to the Islamic terrorist
movement. This humiliating loss to the tiny Jewish state was proof
for Islamic terrorists that secular Islamic states were against all
that was Islamic. Islamic countries were defeated by a people that
True Islam does not even consider human.

Mu’ammar Qaddaffi seized power in Libya in 1969 and he used Libya’s
vast oil wealth to fund Islamic terror around the world. A decade
later, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini overthrew the secular government
in Iran by taking the American embassy personnel hostage and keeping
them as prisoners for over a year.

The 1980s saw the Iranian-backed terror group, Hezbollah strike
American troops on a peacekeeping mission in Lebanon and the American
embassy was bombed. The United States made the tragic mistake of
leaving Lebanon, and the Islamists saw this as a sign of weakness,
and a rash of attacks on Americans continued unpunished around the
world for the next two decades.

True Islam had its golden moment on 9/11 when it succeeded in attacking
the “great Satan” on its own soil. Their bragging and celebration
was brief. The American response to that attack took the terrorists
by surprise. Believing America was a weak paper-tiger, I believe the
invasion of Afghanistan surprised bin Laden. The loss of Afghanistan
enraged the Islamists. Afghanistan was True Islam’s model for the
world. Even more insulting was that the majority of Afghani people
seemed to welcome the overthrow of the Taliban.

True Islam couldn’t care less about the overthrow of Saddam
Hussein. The fact Saddam is Muslim means nothing to them. He was a
secular infidel. Iraqi Muslims who wish to remain under a secular
government are slaughtered like sheep because they too are considered
un-Islamic infidels. Radical Islam knows this may well be its only
chance to subjugate the Iraqi people under strict Islamic rule and
take possession of an oil-rich terrorist training base. If True Islam
were to gain control in Iraq, it would immediately join forces with
Iran to wreck havoc on the world.

Once a great power, Islam has now been reduced to training the
gullible to strap bombs on themselves and blow up a bus or train
full of civilians. Radical Islamic leaders have only one goal: To
make Islam the only religion, and to put Islamic leaders in command
over the entire population of the world. To accomplish this, western
civilization, Christianity, Judaism, secular Muslims, and all other
non-Muslim forms of religious beliefs, must be exterminated.

There has been one important adjustment in True Islam’s plan.

It no longer shuns modern weapons and technology. Indeed, Islamics
believe that the detonation of nuclear weapons on American soil will
bring them a quick victory. This is a serious miscalculation on True
Islam’s part. A very deadly miscalculation.

If one studies the history of Islam and its violent roots, it is not
difficult to understand it. Islamists have killed millions of people
over the centuries and killing millions more to accomplish the goal
of total Islamic rule does not disturb them.

The number of moderate-secular Muslims is declining as true Islam
spreads its rage and hatred to every corner of the world. Time is
short. Iran may be only months away from obtaining nuclear weapons.
There are reports that several nuclear weapons are already here and in
place in America. There can be no signs of weakness from the western
world. There can be no negotiations or deals made with True Islam.
There can be no quarter given.

History has taught us one thing: It is us, or them. There is no middle
ground with terrorists. True Islam has not changed in 1400 years. It
is not going to change now.

About the Writer: Barbara J. Stock is a registered nurse who enjoys
writing about politics and current events. She has a website at
Barbara J. receives e-mail at
[email protected].

http://www.republicanandproud.com/.

New Georgian envoy seeks deeper ties

New Georgian envoy seeks deeper ties
By David Horovitz

THE JERUSALEM POST
July 15, 2005

Lasha Zhvania, the new Georgian ambassador who delighted President
Moshe Katsav last month by presenting his credentials in Hebrew and
singing Hatikva, is urging Israeli tourists to visit his country –
with his own life story constituting the best evidence of the potential
affinity between the two nations.

Zhvania, who perfected his Hebrew during a 1999-2001 stint here as his
country’s consul, has been reported to be “of Jewish descent.” In fact,
he said simply in an interview this week, “I am Jewish. My mother is
Jewish. I know the halacha!”

Ironically, while most of his mother’s family have long since moved
to Israel, she is still living in Georgia – “She loves the country,”
he said.

His parents met at the entrance exams for medical school. His mother
went on to study medicine and is a pharmacist. His late father was
a biologist.

For Georgia’s very traditional Jewish community, which he estimated
now numbers some 8,000, his mother’s marrying out was unusual and
frowned upon. Only after his father died, he said, did the family
resume communications with her.

A former deputy foreign minister, the ambassador first visited Israel
– along with his mother – in 1988. He learned Hebrew initially
in a Jewish Agency school at home, and improved it on his earlier
posting here.

“I enrolled to study Greek at Tel Aviv University,” he said. “And,
obviously, they were teaching the Greek in Hebrew. I didn’t learn
that much Greek, but my Hebrew improved a lot.”

Asked his age, Zhvania said he was 31, adding lightly “which is pretty
old. The president [Mikheil Saakashvili] is only 37.”

Zhvania highlighted historic connections between his country and the
holy land, and more modern ties and identifications, too.

He cited a widely held tradition in the Georgian church that has a
Rabbi Elios of Mtskheta, which is situated not far from the Georgian
capital of Tbilisi, being present in the holy land at the time of
Jesus’s death, and bringing Jesus’s clothes home to his sister and
mother. The sister, Sidonia, died of grief at the sight of Jesus’s
clothes, and a church was later built at the reputed spot – today a
venerated cathedral.

“Every Georgian child knows this tradition,” said Zhvania, adding
that it was at the root of Georgian affection for Jews.

When Christianity came to Georgia in the fourth century, he added,
it was spread by the niece of the patriarch of Jerusalem, St. Nina,
and the consequent reciprocal influences saw a large Georgian community
here, notably in Jerusalem’s Malcha and Katamon neighborhoods, and
the arrival of place names in Georgia like Zion, Tavor and Bethlehem.

More recently, Zhvania asserted, the first Jews to be allowed to leave
the Soviet Union were 18 families from Tbilisi who sought permission
to emigrate in 1968. He said about 100,000 Jews of Georgian origin
live in Israel today, with most of the community having left in the
early 1970s.

Zhvania added that in the so-called Rose Revolution, which saw Eduard
Shevardnadze ousted as president amid public protests over attempted
manipulation of legislative elections, some Georgians brandished
Israeli flags as a sign of the democratic freedoms to which they
aspired.

“There are many similarities between our two countries,” he said,
noting Georgia’s near five-million population and relative proximity to
Israel. He said Georgia was deep into a process of economic, legal and
other reforms. In its efforts to encourage Israeli tourism, he said,
Georgia last month canceled visa requirements for Israelis.

Asked how Georgia has voted at the United Nations on resolutions
relating to Israel, the ambassador said it only recently regained
voting rights at that body. It had owed the UN $12 million in
contributions, and had now paid the first third.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

C.I.S. Struggles for Cohesion

C.I.S. Struggles for Cohesion

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR)
06 June 2005

Report Drafted by Molly Corso

At one point, political observers feared that the Commonwealth of
Independent States (C.I.S.) was Moscow’s way of preserving the Soviet
Union. However, growing tensions within the alliance during the past two
years prove Russia’s leverage over the former Soviet republics is
fragile at best. Perhaps the clearest example of Moscow’s waning
influence is the tangible rift between C.I.S. leaders after the tide of
revolutions sweep through member states. Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova
are seeing fewer benefits from the alliance and are finding prospects
outside of Moscow’s sphere of influence more attractive.

On June 3, the leaders of the C.I.S. countries met in Tbilisi for the
latest summit meeting. Although the Georgian government hosted the
event, there is little doubt that the country’s role in the alliance is
now all but symbolic.

A Turbulent History

It took a civil war and the Abkhaz conflict to convince Georgia in 1993
to join the C.I.S. The alliance itself was created in 1991 by Russia,
Ukraine, and Belarus. Originally, the stated purpose of the C.I.S. was
to help the former Soviet republics cope with the breakup of the Soviet
Empire. While Georgia flatly refused to sign up at its creation,
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze finally agreed to join nearly two
years later in a bid to save the country from civil war and guarantee
Russia’s help in resolving the crisis in Abkhazia.

The confederation was intended to ease the transition for former Soviet
republics, or to create something akin to the European Union with one
currency and free trade, as well as military support. However, Georgia’s
guiding motivation to join the alliance was centered on its conflicts
with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, not an ideological common language with
Moscow.

The basis for Georgia’s role in the C.I.S. was the guarantee that Russia
would help mediate the unsettled conflicts. Its involvement in the
organization led to the current C.I.S. peacekeeping troops, all Russian,
stationed 12 kilometers on either side of the disputed borders. But
after more than ten years of negligible progress with either conflicts,
Georgian politicians and opposition alike are forecasting the end of the
alliance.

Georgia’s role in the C.I.S. since Georgian President Mikheil
Saakashvili came to power has been characterized more by a series of
scandals than by any level of cooperation. Relations were at an all time
low during the meeting in August 2004; a dispute concerning the
Russian-Abkhazian railroad project led presidents Saakashvili and Putin
to spend the meeting arguing about Russia’s interests in the disputed
republic rather than discussing the C.I.S.’ role in mediating the
conflict. With Georgian-Russian relations strained over the Russian
military base agreement in early May, it was no surprise that
Saakashvili refused even to attend the informal C.I.S. summit in Moscow
during the May 9 celebrations.

A Precarious Future

Despite the fact that the organization has stated new goals and
conducted regional meetings, there is little to show for the time and
energy put into the alliance. Originally branded a means for economic
cooperation, C.I.S. countries have failed even to create the long
anticipated free trade zone. By all reports, this zone was to begin in
2005. During the latest summit in Tbilisi, members of the organization
could not even agree to a 2012 deadline. Even more telling is the fact
that member states, on the whole, trade less with one another than they
do with Western powers like Germany and the United States.

The ongoing conflicts within the former Soviet Union are another glaring
example of the alliance’s failures. In 1994, member states signed a
“collective security treaty,” which was designed as a military alliance
intended to guarantee the peaceful end of regional conflicts, as well as
to provide a united front against the growing concern of Western
military involvement in the former Soviet Union. However, five years
after its conception, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Uzbekistan refused to
renew the treaty and left the military alliance, citing a complete lack
of progress dealing with conflicts, as well as growing dissatisfaction
with Moscow’s policies.

Tensions were obvious at the Tbilisi meeting as well, where the
priorities of member states were clearly at odds. Conflict resolution
aside, Georgia has also not received any clear economic benefit from the
C.I.S. Although Tbilisi removed visa restrictions for Russian nationals,
there is still a strict Russian visa regime in place against Georgia.
The summit meeting in Tbilisi on June 3 was promoted as a forum for
economic development; however, the president of the Russian delegation,
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, could not make any promises that
the Russian visa requirements would be lifted. During a press
conference, he merely mentioned that negotiations concerning the issue
are “not easy.”

While Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli expressed optimism that
the alliance can still be viable, other Georgian politicians are
questioning the future of the C.I.S. There was little Georgian
involvement in issues discussed at the summit; out of 34 treaties
presented, the Georgian leadership signed nine. That degree of
inactivity is in sharp contrast to the enthusiasm Georgia exhibits
toward N.A.T.O. A Georgian delegation met with N.A.T.O. representatives
in Brussels last month; while N.A.T.O. officials were more cautious,
Irakli Okruashvili, the Georgian defense minister, was confident
Georgia’s rapidly paced military reforms would lead to N.A.T.O.
membership in as little as three years.

Georgia is not the only C.I.S. member considering other, more
Western-oriented, alliances. After two years of velvet revolutions
throughout the former Soviet space, the C.I.S. is now struggling to
bring together radically different governments. Even Russian President
Vladimir Putin tried in March to downplay the importance of the
organization, saying it had been merely a means of ensuring a “civilized
divorce” for the former Soviet republics. However, after more than a
decade of summit meetings and unimplemented treaties, members are
increasingly looking toward N.A.T.O. and the E.U. as a means to achieve
their goal of integration with a post-communist world.

There is also a growing ideology gap between the governments of the
member states. With the leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, “the
last dictator in Europe,” at one end and pro-Western presidents like
Saakashvili on the other, the alliance is stretched to the breaking point.

Conclusion

While the C.I.S. purportedly represents 12 of the 15 former republics,
Russia has always been the deciding force behind the organization;
during its nearly 14 years of existence, the president of the C.I.S. has
always been either from Russia or Belarus. The relationship between
Georgia and the C.I.S. has always been a reflection of the larger
Russian-Georgian relationship. Now, since the Russian military bases are
beginning the withdrawal process, the Georgian leadership is noting the
tension within the C.I.S. but has expressed some mild hope for its
future. However, if relations with Russia sour further, the call for
Georgia to leave the C.I.S. will be louder and will carry more political
weight.

The Power and Interest News Report (PINR) is an independent organization
that utilizes open source intelligence to provide conflict analysis
services in the context of international relations. PINR approaches a
subject based upon the powers and interests involved, leaving the moral
judgments to the reader.

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