Georgian PM: Saakashvili Government’s own signatures confirm it began hostilities in 2008

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhide on Friday said all documents signed by the Saakashvili administration - including the Council of Europe resolution and the Tagliavini Report - constitute irrefutable proof that the former Government initiated the 2008 August war, calling it an act of treason.

In his remarks over the 17th anniversary of Russia’s military aggression against Georgia in August 2008, Kobakhidze noted that these actions had dealt a severe blow to Georgia’s national interests

“Today we must recall all the documents signed by the then authorities - among them, the Tagliavini Report, effectively endorsed by the United National Movement regime, which states that Saakashvili’s Government started the war. There is also the Council of Europe resolution, adopted at the time almost unanimously, which says that large-scale military actions were initiated by the Saakashvili regime. And there is the presidential decree on the declaration of military actions, which notes that Russia entered Georgia on August 8. These documents are inescapable - they are undeniable evidence that the then agent-driven Government started the war and inflicted the gravest damage on our country’s national interests. This was treason”, the PM said.

Kobakhidze emphasised that both the Council of Europe resolution and the Tagliavini Report present a chronology of events, indicating that on August 7, 2008, the then regime opened artillery fire on Tskhinvali, followed the next day by the entry of Russian troops into Georgia.

“Theoretically, if we were to storm Tskhinvali or Sokhumi tomorrow, a war would begin. The truth is reflected in the Council of Europe resolution: there was an escalation, but it turned into full-scale hostilities after the regime at the time launched an unannounced assault on Tskhinvali. On the morning of August 8, 2008, the regime was proudly announcing that it was taking village after village, moving toward Tskhinvali, already inside the city, advancing toward the Roki Tunnel. This was not a defensive operation - they were openly declaring that they were restoring constitutional order through offensive actions. Saakashvili’s party committed a grave act of treason, which cost the lives of more than 400 people. These people died for their homeland and its national interests, but if we were to commit such treason tomorrow - to launch such an operation, to engage in an adventure ordered from outside - our soldiers would again fight and die for the homeland, yet our betrayal would remain unjustified. That is exactly what Saakashvili’s regime did”, he continued.

He stressed that the central fact was that Saakashvili’s Government signed the Council of Europe resolution - also signed by all of Europe - which explicitly says that the war was started by the then regime.