Georgian Dream, widely seen as being pro-Russian, holds Saakashvili and the UNM responsible for bringing about Russia’s invasion of the country 16 years ago today. Moscow’s aggression followed a Georgian attack on Tskhinvali, the de facto capital and stronghold of the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia.
Russian-backed South Ossetian forces had been shelling Georgian villages since August 1, and Saakashvili ordered Tskhinvali to be taken in response on August 7.
Russia responded by launching a full-scale land, sea and air invasion of Georgia which lasted several days and was described by Moscow as a peacekeeping operation. A ceasefire was agreed on August 12. Since then, around 20% of Georgia’s territory has been under Russian control, according to Tbilisi.
Commemorating the 16th anniversary of the war’s outbreak on Thursday, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze vowed that “the territory of Georgia will definitely be restored, it will be restored in a peaceful way.”
He also reiterated government promises that the UNM would be fully investigated and held accountable following upcoming parliamentary elections, slated for October 26.
Georgian Dream’s Political Council issued a statement on Wednesday in which it accused the UNM of “treacherous crimes” which had “the worst consequences.”
“As a result of the 2008 war, we lost two historic regions, hundreds of soldiers and civilians were killed, and 30,000 people were displaced,” the statement read. “It is unacceptable for a crime of this magnitude to go unpunished without a legal assessment.”
The statement added: “We emphasize here that all this does not diminish the crimes committed by Russia, nor the fact that the Russian Federation is responsible for the occupation of the territories of our country.”
Opposition MP Paata Manjgaladze expressed an alternative view, however.
“Today, no one in the world except Georgian Dream is in any doubt that Russia is the aggressor and has committed war crimes,” InterPress News cited him as saying.
International consequences
Among Georgian Dream’s accusations leveled at Saakashvili is his signing in October 2008 of a resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. It stated that “the escalation turned into open and full-scale military action with the Georgian side’s unannounced bombing of Tskhinvali on August 7,” Georgian Dream said.
“The resolution assessed this act as a disproportionate use of force by the Georgian side, which violated international humanitarian law and Georgia’s commitment to the peaceful settlement of the conflict. In the same document, Russia’s military intervention was assessed as a ‘counter-offensive’,” the Georgian Dream statement added.
“Thus, two months after the war, in the first official international document, the [United] National Movement signed the confirmation of its gravest crime, and with this step it put the Georgian army, the Georgian military and the country at great risk before the international courts.”
Georgian Dream MP and parliamentary speaker Shalva Papuashvili claimed at Thursday’s commemorative event that had his party been in power in 2008 the war would not have occurred, adding that if the UNM had been in office in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, “2008 would have been repeated.”
Saakashvili has been Georgia’s president twice, serving consecutive terms from 2004 till 2013. He is currently serving a six-year prison term for orchestrating an attack on a political opponent, a conviction he claims to be political persecution.
