Ukraine ‘censored’ arms sales documentary
Ukraine ‘censored’ arms sales documentary
A Russian film-maker claims the Ukrainian authorities prevented him from screening a documentary revealing the extent of Ukraine's arms sales to Georgia. Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Timoshenko has already admitted her country’s behaviour during the war in South Ossetia was suspicious.
http://www.russiatoday.com/features/news/33200
Suspicious...
to who? or should that be whom...
It's internal politics. Tymoshenko and others are trying to pin the sales of arms to Georgia on Yuschenko, the President (and her rival for that position in the next election). It's conceivable that she's in cahoots with this Russian film-maker or Russian authorities to get the "Pro-Western" Yuschenko out of power.
That was my point...
You were there, I have not been but my perception is that the truth is inside several eggs...
Given that Yulia seems to lean a little pro Ros, I suspected that what you said might be the case.
Dunno -- but my guess is still that whole thing was a really well set up and long term FSB operation that the Army did an okay job of executing. To include any involvement of the Ukraine and others...
more like a Russian doll (Matrioshka). Yulia is playing a lot of cards. She's practical and opportunistic. But I'm not sure she can get away with it.truth is inside several eggs...
Georgia Without the Spin
By Charles King
"It’s time for the West to realize that Mikheil Saakashvili is no saint and that Georgia is not quite an innocent victim."
Last August’s brief war between Russia and Georgia was fought not only on the rolling hills of South Ossetia, but also on a second front in the international print and broadcast media. If Georgia’s military didn’t exactly distinguish itself on the first front, its government, particularly its president, thoroughly dominated the second.
The Russian military response was precipitous and brazen, and has rightly been condemned by outside powers, but the next U.S. administration must learn that brinkmanship is a game that countries can play with friends as well as adversaries.
Western governments would do well to heed the voices of Georgians themselves. They should realize that support for President Saakashvili, support for Georgia’s de jure borders, and support for Georgian democracy are no longer synonymous positions and might even be mutually exclusive. Georgia’s friends should take heed of how Georgian citizens have come to define their national interests—in ways that are more sophisticated, varied, and pragmatic than their leader would prefer.
Mikheil Saakashvili has overseen important reforms and has inched his country closer toward becoming a genuine European democracy, but the United States is now badly in need of a Georgia policy based on both countries’ real interests, not one man’s savvy marketing campaign.
If you want to blend in, take the bus
ICG, 26 Nov 08: Georgia: The Risks of Winter
The situation in and around Georgia’s conflict areas remains unstable. Violent incidents are continuing. Shots were fired near a convoy carrying the Georgian and Polish presidents on 23 November. European Union (EU) monitors are being denied access to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Unambitious multi-party negotiations focusing on security and internally displaced person (IDP) return have gotten off to a slow start in Geneva. For the moment, however, domestic politics are the capital’s main preoccupation. President Mikheil Saakashvili’s position is at least temporarily secure, but his administration is likely to be severely tested politically and economically in the winter and spring months ahead. The August 2008 war with Russia and the global financial crisis have seriously undermined Georgia’s economy and the foreign investment climate. Social discontent could rise as economic conditions worsen unless the government pushes forward with economic and political change.
The medium to longer term is in any event highly unpredictable. This briefing provides a snapshot of the current situation with regard to ceasefire implementation, but also and particularly to internal developments, because attention is shifting from the conflict zones to Tbilisi. Russia’s recognition on 26 August of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (condemned by Western countries) temporarily strengthened Saakashvili’s position, because it kept public attention and anger directed at Moscow. However, Georgia’s myriad opposition groups are ratcheting up their criticism of the president and his administration, beginning to pose pointed questions about whether the war could have been avoided and in some cases calling for Saakashvili’s resignation......
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