It’s Georgian Independence Day – but how many more will there be?

Source: Barney Thompson, Times Online.

“For Russia, Georgia is unfinished business,” a top intelligence official told The Times. Apart from the military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he cited a “very active intelligence operation”, intimidation of investors, support for sympatheticpoliticians and the continued threat of cyber attacks. Hackers managed to cripple Georgia’s banking system for several days during the August 2008 conflict.

He also raised the fear that the Kremlin would encourage further ethnic unrest to create more conflicts such as that in South Ossetia; Georgia has sizeable Armenian and Azeri populations and several other ethnic groups, including Russians. “We are in a fight for our survival,” the official said.

To that end Georgia is eager for membership of Nato. The Government has been modernising its armed forces with Western assistance and contributes about 900 troops to the Nato force in Afghanistan. In Tbilisi government buildings ostentatiously display the EU flag next to their own, a sign of an unwavering aspiration to join the club.