Georgian and Ukrainian Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili and Victor Yushchenko proposed to create a “regional coalition of democratic nations” – an idea which has been reflected in a joint declaration on cooperation signed by the two presidents at the Georgian governmental residence in Likani, near the resort town of Borjomi, on August 12.
The declaration was signed four hours after the Ukrainian president arrived in Georgia for three-day informal visit, as a sign of, as the Georgian and Ukrainian leaders put it, “strategic partnership” between the two countries.
“Today we signed the Borjomi declaration on the protection of democracy and freedom in our region. We put forward today an initiative to convene a conference this autumn in Ukraine, a summit of all democratic countries of this region with the participation of other states as well, including Russia, EU member states and the United States,” Mikheil Saakashvili said at a joint news conference with his Ukrainian counterpart after signing the declaration. Saakashvili described his Ukrainian counterpart as “the democratic leader” in the region.
President Yushchenko said that the declaration envisages an initiative on the creation of “a coalition of the democratic nations of the region.”
“If we create a model for protecting democratic values then we will be able to live in a prosperous region. This is our initiative,” Yushchenko said.
“We hope to convene a summit regarding this initiative. We want to see leaders from the Black Sea region, Caspian Sea region, as well as from Russia, the EU and the US,” the Ukrainian President added.
He said that the conference will be aimed at forwarding the initiative to create a coalition of democratic nations in the region.
The two presidents have already signed two similar documents in previous months. The first one, signed in January during Saakashvili’s visit to Ukraine, reiterates the two countries’ commitment to democratic development and the second one, signed in March, also in Ukraine, focuses on the nations’ strategic partnership and joint aspiration to integrate into Euro-Atlantic structures.
Saakashvili noted the “historic importance” of the Borjomi declaration and added that the venue is symbolic as well.
“This palace [referring to Likani governmental residence] was the palace of Russian emperors… Later Stalin and other leaders of the Soviet empire also spent their vacations here. Only in their most horrible dreams they could see the presidents of independent Ukraine and Georgia signing a joint declaration on democracy,” Saakashvili said.
Victor Yushchenko also spoke about relations with Russia, saying that relations “are not easy.” He said that there are lots of myths in Russia about what has happened in Ukraine and Georgia, referring to Russian politicians’ allegations that the western-backed Rose and Orange Revolutions were targeted against Russia.
“We want relations with our neighbors to be exclusively friendly. Russia is a huge state. We should respect the developments that take place there. Relations are not easy and have never been easy. If there are problems, let us solve them. I am sure we have good opportunities in this regard. We [the leaders] have to meet more often and talk more often.
He said that Ukraine wants to give new momentum to relations with Russia “I want to invite [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin to the anniversary ceremony at Artek [the International Children’s Camp in Crimea, Ukraine]. I am glad we are going to meet in Kazan [on the sideline of the CIS summit in late August] as well. We have done a lot, but much more remains to be done. Dialogue is the best way to solve problems,” Victor Yushchenko said.
