It was reported late last week that Russia was going to move its troops out of Georgia starting Monday. It seems now that Russia has decided to move its deadline for troop removal to Friday of this week. Although, Russia is building sentry outpost deep inside Georgian territory, which in essence means that the troops are not leaving at all, but instead Russia trying to give the perception of a pullout.
There are still heavily contested areas by the Russians and Georgian governments which include the territories of South Ossetia, and Gori. The Russians are using the excuse that they must ensure that the Georgian military does not return to attack the populace of these disputed towns. NATO had been giving strong warnings against Russia and its incursion into Georgian territory. However, Russia has not taken the NATO threats seriously and has no intention of dealing with the European force and even threatening to cut off all ties with the organization.
This comes on the heels of an agreement signed by the US and Warsaw to place strategic US missile systems into Poland. Russia is becoming belligerent at the notion of a US based missile shield system in its region and is threatening just about every country that signs on to the US plan. It seems as though Russia is getting pretty nervous about the activity going on in their neck of the woods and they see that the European community as a whole is pushing back against the influence they have had over many years through fear and threats. One of the possibilities that Russia is throwing out there is arming their Baltic fleet with nuclear warheads. Certainly the US would have to do something about this and must consider Russia a bigger threat to the US and its allies than Iran.
NATO has said in no uncertain terms that anything less than the full removal of all Russian troops from Georgia will not be tolerated and will result in tough sanctions. The situation in Europe is growing worse with each passing day and it is likely that neither side will back off. The last time we saw one side give in was when Russian troops took over the town of Pristina during the Kosovo war. The Russians saw Pristina as a militarily strategic point and simply came in with tanks. The European community and NATO were outraged by Russia’s actions. Nevertheless, NATO and in essence the world backed down in order placate the Russians for fear of an escalation of war.
We can only hope that this event does not repeat itself and Russia benefits from the inaction of the European community. It is time to get tough and stop running scared from the Russian Bear. It does seem that many leaders are feeling the same way and are loudly declaring that all ties be cut off with Russia if they do not comply with the demands of the European community.
Sources
Jerusalem Post
Photo
Irakli Gedenidze / EPA/POOL
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