MEP Austrevicius: We Must Commit to Working through the Complications

Georgia Today

Tatunashvili image from interview

Exclusive interview

Continuing the series of interviews with Members of the European Parliament, GEORGIA TODAY sat down with Lithuanian MEP Petras Austrevicius to pick his brains about the Archil Tatunashvili case and Russo-Georgian relations.

Excerpt:

It took 26 days for the de facto Tskhinvali government to transfer the body to the Georgian side, and the body shows clear signs of violence. What can you conclude from this?

I consider this a very serious incident which requires comprehensive investigation not just from the Georgian side but the involvement of so-called South Ossetian authorities must be ensured, and I hope that the European Union representatives will show enough interest to follow the investigation to the very end. Not just because a person vanished, a former soldier, whose position was clearly set to defend the sovereignty of Georgia, but because of the circumstances; why the body was kept for so long. It’s a disgrace to the deceased person. I expect a thorough investigation look forward to seeing the results. Such events illustrate that tensions are high, and the price paid by Georgia is also very high. 

This incident resulted in a massive public outcry in Georgia. The gov’t and opposition adopted a resolution called Otkhozoria-Tatunashvili to put sanctions on the people involved in the killings. Can we expect some sort of reciprocated sympathy from the Western allies? ...

You mentioned that the sides should come together to the negotiation table, but it’s widely believed that the death of Tatunashvili was revenge for his participation in the 2008 war. In Tskhinvali, people demanded the body not be given to his family. When we have such circumstances, what kind of public diplomacy [JB emphasis] is expected to work and what grounds for negotiation do we have?

Nobody doubts the situation on the administrative line and in the exchange between the authorities is tense. But you know it’s well said by great minds before us that peace agreements can be reached between enemies, not between friends. Of course, we understand all the complications, but we have to agree on the most acceptable compromise and to reach the best you can expect from today’s situation. It means that negotiations will be very complicated, but it’s better to be engaged in negotiations and to expect some results because today’s situation is bad for all. We have to commit ourselves to complicated, long-term, uneasy negotiations in order to reach an acceptable situation. I hope the sovereignty of Georgia is the red line. We have to know it. I don’t want to predict any troubles in future but maybe those who don’t want to reach an agreement create such situations on purpose and they want more complications, less talk, and more uncertainty around Georgia. It doesn’t help Georgia, after all. We wish Georgia to continue growing economically, to be politically stable and engaged. These tensions are in somebody’s plans, but not in Tbilisi’s. ...