from the hip

There has been inrest between the two “independent” republics in Georgia - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - for some time.  The conflict, says New York Times, has tensed considerably recently:

The recent violence has been the worst in the region since June 2004, shortly after President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia came to power vowing to reassert the country’s control over South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia.

Also a part of the bigger context of this conflict is that Georgia has expressed a wish to become a part of NATO. A move that is not very popular in Russia and it’s premier, Putin.

Now Russia has sent troops and dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles into the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. Also, Russian fighter jets have been shot down by Georgia. Russia is claiming that it is protecting its citizens. However, Tbilisi’s pro-Western Government describes it as an act of war.

More than 1.000 people have so far been killed. This is a very serious conflict. The US is currently sending an envoy to the area. Der Spiegel writes:

European diplomats have been trying to maintain peace in Georgia with financial incentives and promises of partnership. But now that bombs have started to fall, no one in Brussels, Berlin or Paris quite knows what to do.

The Georigian President calls it a perfectly timed attack, and refers to the fact that the eyes of the world are on Beijing and the Olympic Games.

I have a bad taste in my mouth about this. To some extent it reminds me of Hitler’s Germany attacking Poland and excusing the attack with reference to unrest in the border area and transgressions by Poland. I guess we will shortly learn more about what exactly Putin’s reorientation of Russia entails.

I hope the continuation will not be the case as it was in the case of the Germany-Poland conflict!

See also:

• Der Spiegel: Is this the First War between Russia and a Former Soviet State?
• Times (London): Georgia says Russian tanks mean ‘war’ in South Ossetia
• Guardian: Georgia accuses Russia after jets bomb South Ossetia border area
• Der Spiegel: How the Caucasus Erupted
• Politiken (Danmark): En frossen konflikt