Statement of the Chavchavadze Center on the Anniversary of Russian Invasion
August 7th marks 11 years since the day Russia, which had undermined the Georgian state through a series of proxy wars since gaining independence, switched to open aggression and got directly involved in the conflict.
Despite all signs of a pre-planned invasion, the August war came as a surprise to the West, as it was the first time since the 1979 invasion of Afghanistan that Russia openly attacked a sovereign nation. Regretfully, it took several more years — tens of thousands of human casualties, a downed civilian airliner and the occupation and annexation of parts of Ukraine — for the civilized world to finally accept that this was the only real face of modern Russia.
The main lesson to be learned from the 2008 war is that Russia does not accept the idea of a free, independent and successful Georgia. Under the circumstances, all attempts to “normalize” relations with Russia are doomed to fail and are, in fact, deliberate acts aimed at increasing dependence on Russia while forfeiting Georgia’s national interests.
The way out of this quagmire lies through promoting a truly democratic political system, fostering rapid economic growth and achieving a broad public consensus on fundamental issues of vital importance for all Georgians so that elections no longer carry seismic geopolitical risks and Russia’s continued interference in Georgian elections loses all effect. This is also the only way towards Georgia’s de-occupation and full-fledged integration into the Euro-Atlantic family of nations.
