Former British diplomat Ian Proud: British Ambassador should not provoke conflict with Georgia
Ian Proud
Photo: Imedi TV
Former British diplomat and global crisis management expert Ian Proud on Monday said the role of the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Georgia was to strengthen bilateral relations, not to provoke conflict or interfere in Georgia’s internal affairs.
Responding to a question about what would happen if Georgia imposed sanctions on Russia, Proud referred to the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia.
“Georgia went through a terrible war in 2008. This was the result of Mikheil Saakashvili’s policy, when he sought to participate in NATO enlargement. Everyone knew the Russians did not like this - Vladimir Putin said so in 2007 - yet the talk of NATO expansion continued, including Georgia’s accession to NATO and to the European Union. And what happened? Russia attacked you and NATO abandoned you; NATO left Georgia alone facing Russia, and Russia occupied Georgian territory”, he said.
In this context, he criticised what he described as calls from European and British officials for Georgia to align with sanctions against Russia or take steps that could escalate tensions.
“Now Europeans and the British say they still want NATO expansion at Ukraine’s expense; they demand that Georgia impose sanctions on Russia and want Georgia to open a second front!”, he noted.
Proud further argued that the British ambassador’s primary responsibility should be to enhance UK-Georgia relations rather than advocate policies that might increase regional risks.
“The British ambassador to Georgia should be dedicating his time to improving relations between the United Kingdom and Georgia. Why is he demanding that Georgia impose sanctions on Russia? The Georgian government has a clearly defined foreign policy course”, he said.
“It is not the role of the British ambassador, as a diplomat, to provoke conflict with Georgia; on the contrary, he should be working to improve relations. No more and no less - he should stop interfering in Georgia’s internal affairs”, Proud concluded.
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