Russian Senator Blames Tbilisi For Georgian Crisis

The crisis facing Georgia is a consequence of inability of Georgian leaders to deal with vital problems in the country, Deputy Head of International Committee of the upper chamber of Russian Parliament Mikhail Margelov says. Instead of stabilizing the situation, putting an end to terrorism and dealing with the problem of outer debts (Russia is Georgia's primary creditor), Georgian leaders tried to play the so-called Abkhazian card, tempting extremists to openly oppose Russian peace-keepers. The attempt failed and backfired at Shevardnadze: the suspended crisis led to direct confrontation between legislative and executive powers, Margelov underlined. The senator thinks Georgian President should review his attitude to Russian-Georgian relations. Unrest in Georgia can trigger unrest in the entire Caucasus, Margelov says. Without establishing clearly defined, flawless relations with Russia, Georgia will never acquire true stability and independence, he adds. Nowadays, the menace Georgia should fear is not "the Kremlin imperial ambitions" - these Shevardnadze sees in his dreams maybe - what really threatens Georgia's independence is devastation and criminalization of economics and perfect impunity of the criminals, he underlines.