STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT SERGEI BAGAPSH IN RESPONSE TO SENATOR LUGAR
posted by circassiankama on December, 2009 as Abkhazia
STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT SERGEI BAGAPSH IN RESPONSE TO SENATOR LUGAR
U.S. Senator Richard
Lugar (R-IN) will reportedly issue a report next week calling for the
United States to rearm Georgia. Such a decision would jeopardize the
fragile peace we have in this region. I urge him to re-evaluate his
stance.
In considering the Senator’s recommendation, Americans must not
forget Georgian President Saakashvili‘s history of recklessness and
irresponsibility. In August 2008, he broke international laws and
launched an attack on civilians in South Ossetia, using munitions
supplied by the U.S. and other western nations. Those actions, which
led to hundreds of deaths and thousands of displaced refugees, were
confirmed by a respected EU commission in October. We have proof that
he was prepared to launch a similar attack on our civilians. Claims by
President Saakashvili that new weapons and military training will only
be used for defensive purposes ring hollow, given his past behavior. We
do not trust him, and we caution the United States that it should not,
either.
Abkhazia is working to build a
democratic nation in which our people can be free and productive. We
have just conducted a peaceful presidential election, in which 73% of
the eligible voters participated. I am honored to have been re-elected
to another term. We are rebuilding our economy and our people are
energized by the opportunities they face as an independent state.
Abkhazians do not want to live in the past. Granting Georgia additional
weapons will take us all back to the Cold War mentality that stifled
our region for decades. I ask the United States Congress and President
Obama to consider the ramifications of their actions, past and present,
and I respectfully challenge Senator Lugar to demonstrate how further
militarizing our region will contribute to anything but greater
instability and conflict. Unfortunately, the senator did not ask the
people of Abkhazia what rearming Georgia would do to our hopes for
peace in our region. If he had, he might have reached a different
conclusion. --Sergei Bagapsh, President, The Republic of Abkhazia, December 23, 2009
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