A new book has revealed sensational details about Russia’s invasion of Georgia in August 2008, claiming that French President Nicolas Sarkozy bullied Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili into signing a vague and unenforceable ceasefire agreement, which eventually saw Russia illegally annex large parts of Georgia’s territory. Sarkozy is quoted as saying: “Where is Bush? Where are the Americans? They are not coming to save you. No Europeans are coming, either. You are alone. If you don’t sign, the Russian tanks will be here soon.” This is just another insight into the …
TBILISI — Discussions at the fifth annual European Resource Bank today turned to the question of how to implement radical reforms, and what we can learn from previous success stories such as Estonia. A panel titled, “Reforms need more than sound economics,” expressed the view that legislators of new democracies need to put forward a moral vision when undertaking serious reforms, and further to that, they need to bankrupt the previously dominating communist ideology. Communism and socialism have dominated the social, political, cultural and philosophical space in large parts of …
TBILISI – It isn’t hard to see why Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze is a free marketer. A graduate of American private education and a citizen of the United Kingdom, the ethnic Georgian prime minister invoked Margaret Thatcher’s legacy as an example for today’s legislators to follow in confronting economic challenge when speaking at the fifth annual European Resource Bank. Gurgenidze put forward a compelling summary of his government’s reform agenda and its incredible achievements to date. He was slightly nuanced in his views on defense and security, but told …
