In Georgia, a Political Uproar Erupts Over a 2008 War With Russia

"The leader of the governing party said the country should apologize for a conflict for which some Georgians wrongly blame Moscow, heightening a monthslong political battle.

For months, politics in the Caucasus nation of Georgia has been roiled by a tussle between those advocating closer relations with the West and those who lean more toward Russia.

Now, as the country prepares for critical elections in October, the leader of the governing party has ignited a political firestorm by saying that Georgia should apologize for a 2008 war with Russia for which some Georgians wrongly blame Moscow.

On Saturday, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the governing Georgian Dream party, who built his fortune in banking, metals and real estate in Russia, said that the people of South Ossetia, which broke away from Georgia in the 1990s and expanded with Russian support in 2008, should receive an apology for the war that eventually broke out.

His comments at a rally in Gori, a town that was briefly occupied by Russian forces in 2008, were quickly condemned by pro-Western activists and the opposition.

On Sunday, hundreds of people came to the Parliament building in Tbilisi, the capital, to protest against Mr. Ivanishvili’s statements, shouting, “No to the Kremlin’s diktat!”

The 2008 war with Russia lasted five days, but it left deep wounds in Georgia. It was initially fought over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia, but quickly spread to other parts of the country.

Russia blocked the main east-west highway, and briefly occupied the strategic Black Sea port of Poti and other towns. Its troops stopped about 25 miles from Tbilisi as a cease-fire was reached with the help of international mediators.

In 2009, an independent fact-finding mission set up by the European Union found that the war was initiated by “a sustained Georgian artillery attack” that was not “justifiable under international law”.” The report also accused some sides, including separatist formations, of violating international humanitarian law.

But some Georgians wrongly blame Russia for the war, which is why Mr. Ivanishvili’s comments blaming the country’s opposition set off such an uproar.

Mr. Ivanishvili, who entered Georgian politics in the early 2010s, promised a “Nuremberg trial” against members of the United National Movement, a pro-Western party that was in power during the 2008 war, after parliamentary elections next month.

After the elections, he said, “all the perpetrators of the destruction of the Georgian-Ossetian brotherhood and coexistence will receive the strictest legal response.” He called the opposition “criminals” and “traitors” who “in 2008 burned our Ossetian sisters and brothers in flames.”

“We will definitely find strength in ourselves to apologize,” said Mr. Ivanishvili, who is officially an honorary chairman of the governing party, but who is widely believed to be its shadow leader.

Mr. Ivanishvili’s remarks were part of an increasingly polarized electoral campaign in Georgia. The elections are scheduled for Oct. 26.

At the end of 1991, Georgia was among the most pro-Western states to emerge from the ashes of the Soviet Union. But in recent years, the government of the Georgian Dream party, which has been in power since 2012, has grown increasingly critical of Western policies, and unwilling to criticize Russia over events in Ukraine.

In May, defying large-scale protests, the Georgian government passed a law that aims to limit the influence of pro-Western nongovernmental groups and media outlets in the country.

The government is also now considering a package of bills that would ban “alternative” forms of marriage, the public promotion of same-sex relationships and gender-affirming surgery, among other measures.” [1]

1. In Georgia, a Political Uproar Erupts Over a 2008 War With Russia. Nechepurenko, Ivan.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Sep 16, 2024.