Saakashvili on Turkish-proposed Caucasus Stability Platform

President Saakashvili said the Turkish-proposed Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform had no “clear shape” yet and consultations were on their “very early stage.”

“We always welcome multilateral mechanism,” Saakashvili said while speaking at a news conference on a sideline of a high-profile Brussels Forum late on March 21.

He, however, also added: “I think we should not create any mechanism that would exclude European Union or other big players in the region.”

“I think there should not be exclusive regional mechanisms; but I think any complementarity to already existing European Union structures, open to any positive actors in the region will be welcome[d].”

He welcomed the approval of, as he put it, “a long-awaited” Eastern Partnership initiative by EU leaders on March 21 – the program aimed at EU’s closer cooperation with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Saakashvili said the initiative was “a step forward for my country and the countries of the region.”

“What we are seeing now is not a new sphere of influence – as one speaker put it this morning – but we are having a new mechanism for stability, for development and eventually for prosperity of our region,” Saakashvili said, referring to remarks made by Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, at the same forum earlier on March 21.

“We are accused of trying to have spheres of influence. What is the Eastern Partnership?” Lavrov said. “When my good friend [the Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg] publicly says that if Belarus recognizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Belarus could forget about Eastern Partnership.  Is it threatening, is it blackmail or is it democracy at work?.. And then after those type[s] of statements we have questions – is it about pulling countries from the positions which they are supposed to take freely?”

At the same press conference in Brussels, President Saakashvili also welcomed EU leaders’ decision to approve in principle proposals on the bloc’s energy policy, including on Nabucco gas pipeline. The proposal, some details of which yet need to be hammered out, requires the approval of the European Parliament before becoming law, Reuters reported. Saakashvili said that Georgia “has already secured its own energy independence” and the country no longer experienced energy disruptions.

Saakashvili also said that compared to other countries of the region, Georgia was “doing relatively better, thanks to the fact that we have done reforms in the past.”

“Right now despite Russia’s occupation and Georgia’s post-war troubles, the country is on the move; I think that in overall the mood of the people [despite] the problems is positive,” he added.

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