Georgia moves ahead – but the 2008 war consequences remain to be dealt with

*In August 2008, thousand of Russian troops and armor rolled into Georgia, as the Russian aviation was pounding country’s military, infrastructural and civilian targets. Four years on, Georgia stands strong in asserting its identity as a liberal, democratic state, its economy is surging ahead and the government works hard to take care of the persons displaced during the conflict. Our friends stood by us in 2008. We need their support still so that those residing in 20% of our territory occupied by Russia can partake in and benefit from the progress Georgia has achieved.

The pictures of war on major news networks mean destruction, devastation and despair for those embroiled in conflict. If the eye of an international reporter ever returns to those areas as the years pass, one usually sees a grim reality, where human suffering prevails, with no hope in sight. This was one possible scenario for my country as well, as it was invaded by the neighbor vastly superior in size and military capabilities. Still worse was the threat of obliteration of our very statehood and of our way of life.

Yet neither of these was to pass. Georgian people defended their homeland. Our friends and allies stood by us on the international arena to rebuke the invasion. Georgia keeps its identity as a free nation and is moving ahead, though ever-mindful of the threat that is still looming from the two Russian military bases that were set up on occupied territories, in violation of the ceasefire agreement and fundamental principles of international law.

The country withstood the shock and managed to rebound to achieve steady economic growth, with real GDP growing 6.4% in 2010 and 7% in 2011. As this year wanes, we expect to be opening a major railway route linking Central Asia with Turkey and onwards to Europe. UN World Tourism Organization singled out Georgia for its remarkable growth in tourism – arrivals have almost tripled in the past five years, from just below a million in 2006 to close to 3 million in 2011. Georgia still remains as one of the safest and least corrupt countries in Europe, where business is easy to do.

Georgia’s democratic choice remains unshaken. The citizens will vote on 1 October to elect the new Parliament and to rejuvenate our democracy. Our public service halls – the key way in which citizens interact with the government on a daily basis – won a prize at the UN’s worldwide, peer-nominated contest for its innovative design of services. Our nation is negotiating the Association Agreement and the free trade agreement with the EU, implementing reforms to strengthen our justice system, local governance and penitentiary.

While we are proud of our successes, we call attention to the plight of the thousands who were displaced during the war, whose homes were often razed to the ground in an act of ethnic cleansing. Immediately after the war the government made sure most of these families met the winter of 2008 under the new, own roof, but their rights are far from being acknowledged, their loss is far from compensated. Justice is yet to be restored.

As we work to advance our nation, we need help and support of the international community to condemn and reverse the occupation, to make our successes available to those that reside on the 20% of the Georgian territory currently occupied by the Russian troops. In the 21st century no power can afford to lock the people behind the barbed wire, to raze villages to give way to military bases, to deprive children the right to study in their mother tongue, to make carrying the gun the only available employment.

We have reached out to all those who reside on occupied territories wishing to engage them, to offer services, to build confidence and to restore the social fabric that linked our communities for centuries. Georgia keeps neighborly relations with the Russian people – we have cancelled visa requirements for all Russian citizens this March and the tourists have poured in, despite the propaganda of fear by the Kremlin. We are ready to engage in constructive talks with Russia. Georgia made unilateral pledge not to use force. There has been no reciprocity, but we hope, often beyond hope, that the hearts and minds in Moscow will slowly be changing.

Georgia has achieved a lot, but we still need a friendly hand so that all of our compatriots may live in peace, dignity and security. The governments and civil society of the free world should continue delivering loud and clear message to the government of the Russian Federation that the military occupation cannot be tolerated, that systematic abuse of human rights cannot be window-dressed as nation-building , that ethnic cleansing has no place in modern society.

Four years after the war, the Georgian nation stands tall, looks into the future and demands justice for all of its residents.