Saakashvili’s speech in New York

On September 25th Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili gave his final speech at the 68th Session of the United Nations General Assembly. Experts and politicians evaluated his speech differently. Almost all point out his stinging remarks directed at Russian President Vladimir Putin in criticizing his policy.

Saakashvili addressed the international forum on behalf of other countries as well, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine and Moldova. However, neither of the leaders of these countries repeated or supported Saakashvili’s position.

The picture drawn by Saakashvili was quite pessimistic, showing that the UN is unable to establish peace and justice in the world. Saakashvili emphasized Russia's aggressive, imperialistic politics. He reiterated that Moscow continues its policy of occupation towards Georgia, ignoring the attempts of the current Georgian government to mend the relations between the two countries.

Saakashvili underlined that Russia is not interested in solving the conflicts in the territory of the former Soviet Union. The Georgian President also criticized the Eurasian Union promoted by Putin, suggesting that the Kremlin is using all possible measures to force former Soviet Union countries to join.

Representatives of the Georgian Dream coalition had a positive attitude towards Saakashvili’s speech. However, they also made clear that the current Georgian government does not use such aggressive rhetoric. “Despite the fact that I practically support all the phrases Saakashvili has said about Russia, I should mention that he did not understand that the Georgian government does not speak in this way,” Georgian Dream member Tina Khidasheli stated.

As Saakashvili unleashed a firestorm of harsh words aimed at the Kremlin, and more specifically, at Vladimir Putin, members of the Russian delegation got up and left the assembly hall in the middle of his speech. One member accused Saakashvili of needing a psychological evaluation.