How and why Georgia’s government wants to clear Russia of responsibility for the 2008 war
Having halted the country’s path toward Europe, Georgia’s government is now revisiting its past.
At the center of attention: the events of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
The ruling party, Georgian Dream, is moving to legitimise previously voiced accusations against the opposition.
The goal is to push for a constitutional ban on Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement party and other political forces "associated with it."
Read more about why thy the Georgian government is so eager to appease Russia and what outcome they hope to achieve in the article by Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor, and Amiran Khevtsuriani, founder of the Georgian-Ukrainian Center – Georgia talks war: why it wants to clear Russia of responsibility for the 2008 aggression.
Back in September last year – ahead of parliamentary elections – Georgian Dream first announced its intentions to revisit the causes of the 2008 war.
Surprisingly, this statement came from Bidzina Ivanishvili, founder and honourary chairman of the ruling party.
Party representatives began promoting the idea that such a revision of recent history was necessary for the country’s reintegration. According to them, after the elections (if the ruling party remains in power), a "window of opportunity" might open to reclaim territories occupied by Russia and Georgia must be ready for it.
So, once the government felt relatively secure after the election, it returned to the idea of a "Georgian Nuremberg" for the former leadership.
In the Georgian Parliament, which the opposition refuses to recognise as legitimate and does not participate in, a special commission was established. Its task: to determine whether the 2008 war was the result of political missteps by the then-government that could have been avoided.
Mikheil Saakashvili and his team are being accused of launching the war without a military plan, failing to evacuate civilians in time. The commission is also trying to find evidence that Georgia initiated the conflict based on promises from the US to provide military aid.
At the first hearing, politicians from the previous government were invited, including former Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze, former PM Zurab Noghaideli, and Paata Davitaia, who had chaired the first investigative commission into the war.
Their testimonies contradicted the ruling party’s accusations. None of them placed the blame for the war’s start on Georgia instead of Russia.
Military officers were invited to the next hearing. The aim was to get statements that the government had abandoned the armed forces, that the conflict was waged without a plan, leading to casualties among both soldiers and civilians.
Still ahead is the most high-profile witness: former President Saakashvili.
Despite that, Georgian Dream seems confident about the commission’s final conclusions and their political payoff.
"It’s now clear that the conclusions of the parliamentary investigative commission will give us a strong basis to appeal to the Constitutional Court of Georgia to declare the United National Movement and its satellite parties unconstitutional," said Mamuka Mdinaradze, the ruling party’s formal leader.
This strategy would allow Georgian Dream to, as promised, "create a new opposition" – one that poses no threat to their power.
But why is Georgian Dream so eager to appease Russia?
It appears the party is genuinely concerned that, if the Kremlin fails to achieve a decisive victory in Ukraine, it may turn to a "small victorious war" with another neighbour.
Most likely, Georgian Dream hopes to pacify the aggressor in advance by fulfilling all of Russia’s wishes before any confrontation even begins.