Georgian authorities are against a hasty decision to pull out of
the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Foreign Minister Gela
Bezhuashvili said on Monday.
"The matter of leaving the CIS should not be tied to Georgia's
strained relations with Russia. The CIS is not only Russia, there
is a whole number of states with which we have the relations of
strategic partnership," Bezhuashvili was quoted by the Itar-Tass
news agency as saying.
The CIS, which groups all former Soviet republics except the
three Baltic states, was set up after the break-up of the Soviet
Union to try to maintain economic and political ties. Georgia
joined in 1993, but parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze has said
Georgia now has no reason to remain a member.
The Georgian minister said the CIS "has largely lost its
original intention," which includes free trade, free movement of
citizens and foreign policy coordination, but Georgian authorities
are not going to make "an emotional and hasty decision" on leaving
the CIS.
"A time of Georgia leaving the CIS has not yet come; we shall
make such decisions when it will be the least painful for Georgia,"
Bezhuashvili said.
Georgia and Russia are locked in a bitter dispute triggered by
the brief detention of Russian officers in the Caucasus nation on
spying charges in late September.
Moscow, infuriated by the arrests, has imposed an economic
blockade on Tbilisi by cutting transport and postal links, and has
deported Georgians accused of staying in Russia illegally.
(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2006）
