TBILISI (Reuters) – Five years after it fought a war with Russia, Georgia is preparing to defy its former Soviet masters again by initialing an accord on strengthening ties with Europe. New Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili is toughing it out just a week after another former Soviet republic, Ukraine, bowed to pressure from Moscow and suspended plans to strike a similar deal with the European Union.
The South Caucasus country’s economy is much smaller than Ukraine’s but it is important to the EU because it hosts pipelines that carry Caspian gas and oil to Europe. “Ukraine’s decision is very unfortunate, but Ukraine and Georgia are different stories as we are much less dependent on Russia than Ukraine is,” Garibashvili told Reuters in an interview in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
“Russia may use political and economic leverage to put pressure on Georgia, but I believe that it cannot be serious.” Like Ukraine, Georgia is trying to strike a balance between East and West but finding it hard to strengthen ties with Europe without upsetting Russia. Moscow is anxious to maintain its influence over states it dominated during Soviet times, especially those with energy pipelines and significant ethnic Russian communities.
Despite Russia’s concerns, Tbilisi will initial the accord on deepening trade and other cooperation with the EU on Friday at a summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. It expects to sign the final agreement next year and hopes Moscow will adopt a warmer policy towards it as it tries in the long term to join NATO and the EU.
