Georgian President Slams Russia, Ivanishvili In Strasbourg

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi on January 17.

STRASBOURG, France -- Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has heavily criticized both Russia and the current Georgian government of Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili during an address to the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly.

In his speech on January 21, Saakashvili accused Moscow of not living up to international commitments concerning what he described as Georgia's occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and said the Russian military build-up there had continued.

Saakashvili also accused the current Georgian government of attacking judges, harassing independent media in the country, and resorting to selective justice in targeting his political allies.

The Georgian president, whose United National Movement party lost the parliamentary elections last year to a coalition led by Ivanishvili, also questioned the foreign policy of the government, accusing it of giving up Georgia's NATO aspirations.