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Mikheil Saakashvili: Belarus To Become Free

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The former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said that during his speech at the XIII Warsaw East European Conference.

Poland and other European countries need to develop their political relationships with Turkey, despite the attempt of a military coup and the wave of arrests that run through the country after it, – the chairman of the Odessa Regional State Administration Mikheil Saakashvili said, speaking at the Warsaw East European Conference. He also called upon Poland to create a “belt of cooperation” with the countries of the Black Sea Region, radyjo.net reports.

PHOTO: ALIAKSANDR PAPKO/RADYJO.NET

“After what happened two days ago, Turkey is moving away from our common ideas about how the policy should be made in a European country; however, all the countries of the region are united in their strive for a peaceful life for the future generations, stable supply of energy sources and sustainable economic development,” – the former Georgian President noted.

According to Mikheil Saakashvili, the alliance of Poland and the countries of the Black Sea Region will give its participants additional safety guarantees in the times of “extreme weakness of the West”.

“Poland, Ukraine, maybe Moldavia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and, I hope, Armenia after the conflict issues in the South Caucasus are resolved, should create a sort of a belt of cooperation, which will help to compensate for the extreme weakness of the West. We can at least formulate the general direction and to strengthen the safety potential for the sake of the future. It is essential that we start doing it now without delay,” – Saakashvili believes.

Poland and the countries of the Black Sea basin have pragmatic interests and their leaders should sit at the negotiating table. “The West is very weak and we all know this,” – Mikheil Saakashvili noted to the journalists once again while commenting on his offer.

However, the former Georgian President is sure that both, Ukraine and Georgia will be accepted to NATO sooner or later.

PHOTO: ALIAKSANDR PAPKO/RADYJO.NET

“The extreme weakness of the West will come to an end – this phenomenon is cyclic. By the way, I don’t consider the recent NATO summit to be bad. The decisions made at the summit have created a certain framework allowing to put a bridle on Russia. The West's attitude to Moscow has changed. In this sense, the recent NATO summit was symbolic. I don’t know when exactly our countries will be allowed to join the Alliance, but I think that it will happen much sooner than we imagine. However, I do not know what will happen sooner – the expansion of NATO or the disintegration of Russia,” – the former Georgian President told.

Answering the questions of the audience, Saakashvili explained what he had achieved in Odessa during the year of his leadership in the region.

“It’s the first time in the history when the Odessa region has a non-corrupt administration – and everyone admits this. That is why when they ask me: “Where are the results?” or “Have you already built a hundred skyscrapers, supermarkets, a railway and an international airport with an annual turnover of 20 million passengers?”, I answer: “Give me some time!” The second thing that we have achieved – creation of an absolutely new team. And this team will take on leadership in Ukraine one day. Odessa is a laboratory. However we have no illusions. Changes can only be achieved after introducing changes in Kyiv. Similarly, Batumi was rebuilt after changes in Tbilisi. We have developed a large package of legislative proposals, which is called “The Odessa reform package.” It deals with deregulation of business, destruction of bureaucratic barriers, decentralization and reducing of taxes. I think, Ukraine will accept it within a year,” – Mikheil Saakashvili said.

PHOTO: ALIAKSANDR PAPKO/RADYJO.NET

Zmitser Bandarenka from the civil campaign European Belarus asked Mikheil Saakashvili to help the Belarusians, who are fighting in the Donbass region on the side of Ukraine, to obtain legal status. He also asked to comment on why the Ukrainian and the Georgian authorities maintain good relationships with Lukashenka's regime.

“This does not mean that we do not sympathize with the idea of a free Belarus. The free Belarus has no alternative. However, in order for Belarus to be free, to develop the idea of freedom and democracy, it is necessary that Belarus survived as a state. You know that this question was on the agenda. Not only Putin, but also many Russian citizens, influenced by the propaganda, cannot understand why such state as Belarus exists and ask how soon it will end to exist. Let's first save the state,” – the former Georgian President said.

Mikheil Saakashvili said that he believed in the “amazingly good” future of Belarus. “I have a very good opinion about the potential of Belarus and am very optimistic, being aware of all the difficulties which exist,” – the former President of Georgia stressed.

PHOTO: ALIAKSANDR PAPKO/RADYJO.NET
PHOTO: ALIAKSANDR PAPKO/RADYJO.NET
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