Bush to Raise Georgia at U.S.-EU Summit

Georgia will be on the agenda of the U.S.-EU summit in Slovenia next week, Stephen Hadley, the U.S. national security adviser, said on June 4.

“The leaders will discuss how best to support President Saakashvili and his peace initiatives on Abkhazia, and encourage, in particular, direct talks between the Georgian government and the Abkhaz,” he told journalists. “We expect the leaders will also join in urging Russia to reverse its provocative actions in the separatist regions and to respect Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.”

Folllowing his attendance at the U.S.-EU summit on June 9, President Bush will make brief stop-offs in Germany, Italy, the Holy See, France, and the United Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Joseph R. Biden, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement on June 4 that a resolution condemning Russia’s attempts to undermine Georgia’s territorial integrity had “unanimously passed the Senate.”

“One way to de-escalate tensions would be to replace Russian CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) peacekeepers [in Abkhazia] with a new force,” Biden, a Democratic senator from Delaware, who is co-sponsor of the resolution, said in the statement.

Other co-sponsors of the resolution were Mel Martinez, a Republican senator from Florida, and Richard G. Lugar, a Republican senator from Indiana.

“The United States must lead an intensive international diplomatic counter-offensive against Russia’s efforts to destabilize Georgia and the region,” Senator Lugar said.

“The Georgian government has come a long way in strengthening democratic rule and is working very hard to overcome the legacy of the dark days of Soviet rule.  They need our support now more than ever,” Senator Martinez said.