Russia boycotts Georgian President’s speech at the UN
The Russian delegation walked out Wednesday during outgoing Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s speech at the UN General Assembly, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
“As a token of disagreement with the assessments voiced by Mr. Saakashvili from the General Assembly rostrum, Russian representatives walked out of the hall,” spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said, RIA Novosti reports.
The delegation left the hall close to the end of the 20-minute speech, more than half of which the Georgian leader devoted to fiercely criticizing the Russian authorities and their policy in former Soviet republics.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, says Georgian President Mikheil “Saakashvili should undergo a professional mental health assessment.”
Moscow not interested in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict
As he gave his address to the General Assembly today, Mikheil Saakashvili argued that Eastern European countries aspiring to join the EU were facing constant pressures and threats: “Armenia has been cornered, Moldova is being blockaded, Ukraine is under attack, Azerbaijan faces extraordinary pressure and Georgia is occupied,” he said.
Through those efforts, the Russians, he said, were trying to destabilize countries in Eastern Europe to prevent the building of strong democratic institutions, so as to block their integration with the West.
“Unlike most nations, the Russian Federation has no interest in having stable states around it. Neighboring countries in constant turmoil is what the Kremlin is seeking. It rejects the very idea of strong governments in Georgia, Ukraine, or Moldova, even ones that try to be friendly to its interests,” M. Saakashvili said.
“Do you think that Vladimir Putin wants Armenia to decisively triumph over Azerbaijan, for instance? No. This would make Armenia too strong and potentially too independent.
Do you think then that the contrary is true, that Moscow wants Baku to prevail over Yerevan? Obviously not. The current rise of a modernized, dynamic Azerbaijan is a nightmare for the Russian leaders,” the Georgian President continued.
According to him, “they do not want anyone to prevail and the conflict itself is their objective, since it keeps both nations dependent and blocks their integration into the European common space.”
Joining the Eurasian Union is therefore very easy
“The Eurasian Union has been shaped as an alternative to the European Union and unveiled by Vladimir Putin as the main project of his new presidency – the new Russian empire,” Saakashvili said.
According to the Georgian President, “the Eurasian Union is fuelled by intolerance, it is lead by old KGB structures and it is shaped to revive an old Empire – that’s what the Eurasian Union is all about.”
“Of course, joining the Eurasian Union is therefore very easy. There are no social, economic, or political criteria to be met: becoming a colony, in fact, requires no effort at all. Passivity and mediocrity, absence of the national pride are the only requirements; willingness to be slaved in another one,” he said.
