Congress of Georgians in Moscow: the view from Tbilisi

The upcoming Congress of Georgians living in Russia, to be held in Moscow, has provoked a storm of emotions in Tbilisi. Representatives of the authorities were quick to declare that they would not be going to Moscow as guests, since the event is being carried out under the aegis of "the government and Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev personally, who have encroached upon Georgia's territorial integrity".

Meanwhile political commentators, businessmen and ordinary Georgian citizens express the most diverse opinions on this issue. Some of them are bewildered about the authorities' position, whilst others support it. Here is what your Georgiatimes correspondent has heard from them.

The famous political commentator and former adviser to the ex-president Eduard Shevardnadze Ramaz Sakvarelidze thinks that the position of the Georgian authorities is completely justified. His argument goes as follows.

The Congress is being organized by Mr. Khubutia, who has very close relations with the Russian regime. The Kremlin has repeatedly declared that for them Saakashvili is an unacceptable figure. At the same time the Russian regime has more and more often been emphasizing its loyalty to the Georgian people. The Kremlin therefore wants to formalize its position at the Congress of Georgians in Russia, hence to worsen relations between the Georgian intelligentsia and the president.

Sakvarelidze does not believe that the Congress is an "apolitical event". He says: "We don't view the Russian people as being equal to the country's leadership either. It wasn't Russian authors, actors and businessmen or ordinary workers who bombed Georgia. But we don't invite representatives of the Russian intelligentsia to Tbilisi and demand that they disavow Putin or Medvedev."

And in Sakvarelidze's opinion, the issuing of visas and air traffic can be resumed without "any congresses and conferences, it just needs the good will of the authorities". He sees elements of a political game in the planned event. But he declined to comment on the Patriarch's intention to visit it. "The Catholicos is an irreproachable figure. It would be discourteous to assess his actions. He has done a lot for Georgia, including to restore Georgian-Russian relations. At the same time Ilia II remains outside politics."

The political commentator did not rule out the possibility that many "famous and not especially famous Georgians" will go to the Congress. Many people experience nostalgia for good relations, for the old times. The Russian and Georgian intelligentsia - actors, directors, writers - will continue to associate with each other, irrespective of who the head of state is.

The Director of the International Conflicts and Negotiations Centre Georgi Khutsishvili thinks that "it is just still too early to organize" such a congress.

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