EN
18 September 2002 - 15:15 AMT

MOSCOW THREATS TO GEORGIA CONCURRED WITH BEGINNING CONSTRUCTION OF BAKU-TBILISI-CEYHAN OIL PIPELINE NOT BY CHANCE, EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE CONSIDERS

The threats of Moscow addressed to Georgia concurred with beginning of construction of Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline not by chance. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze stated it in his traditional broadcast appeal. In his words, nothing happens suddenly, especially when geopolitical processes are concerned. The oil pipeline building has to do with influx of huge investments into the region, which will strengthen the independence of the states participating in the project and make for their intimacy with the West, the Georgian leader emphasized. Commenting on his coming visit to Baku, where the ceremony of laying Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline construction will be held, Shevardnadze noted that “Georgia and the entire South Caucasian region will enter a totally new reality.”