Russian Fury at Tbilisi's Visa-free Regime for Region

Georgia has offered visa-free travel to residents of southern Russia, angering Moscow and worrying some Georgians who fear the insecurity plaguing the North Caucasus could spill over the mountains.

From October 13, Russian citizens registered in the seven autonomous republics of the North Caucasus can pass the Verkhny Lars border crossing between the two countries and stay in Georgia for 90 days without a visa.

For President Mikhail Saakashvili, the move is part of a goal of creating a "united Caucasus", with free movements for the peoples of the mountains between each other's territories.

"I deeply believe that a common market, common interests added to political and economic inter-relations will one fine day create the foundations of the united Caucasus. That is what I call for today," he told the United Nations General Assembly on September 23.

Verkhny Lars is the only legal crossing point between Russia and Georgia, because of the uncertain status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Moscow recognised as independent follow the war of 2008.

Russian troops now guard the breakaway republics, and some Georgian politicians questioned the wisdom of letting in Russian citizens while relations were still unresolved.

Moscow, on the other hand, which only re-opened Verkhny Lars in March having closed it four years previously, reacted furiously to Georgia's step.

"The decision of the Georgian authorities to announce unilaterally the implementation of a visa-free regime for Russian citizens living in the series of republics in the North Caucasus, cannot be interpreted as anything other than a provocation," a foreign ministry statement said.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov added to the criticism, "In relations between civilised partners, it is accepted to discuss things together. In the form that, judging by everything, this is being done, it more closely resembles another propaganda step."

In turn, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, Nino Kalandadze, said that since visas were not given out at Verkny Lars, residents of the North Caucasus were forced to travel to neighbouring Georgia via the Swiss embassy in Moscow, which made travel over the mountains very expensive and complicated.

"In the first place, we want to restore traditional relations with our neighbouring nations. At the same time, many people have commercial interests in Georgia, and there is also interest in studying in our universities. Therefore the existence of any additional barriers was unjustified," Kalandadze said.

But that was not an argument that satisfied everyone in Tbilisi. Politicians and analysts alike highlighted the potential risk of allowing free entry to people from the North Caucasus, considering the violence that infects Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, and which has spread to North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria as well.

The opposition Christian Democrats party demanded an emergency session of the Security Council to discuss Saakashvili's decree, saying the decision could provoke Russian aggression against Georgia, and also allow extremists onto Georgian territory.

"The decision of the Georgian authorities could help these people to freely cross into our territories. And then we would be under the same threat that we were in [South Ossetia], when Russian forces went there to defend the so-called citizens of Russia," Levan Vepkhvadze, a member of parliament from the party, said.

And Sozar Subari, formerly Georgia's human rights ombudsman and now a leader of the Georgian Party, a new political movement, said it was "yet more adventurism".

"It is absurd to cancel the visa regime unilaterally. A border has two sides and the Russian will only allow the people they want to pass," he said.

Political analysts, meanwhile, were baffled by the decision, saying it would bring only bad consequences to the country.

"If the aim is really to establish a unified Caucasus space then in the context of the current conditions in the Caucasus it is absurd," Giorgi Khukhashvili, head of the Centre for Social Projects think tank, said.

"As for the negatives, Russia could look at this, perhaps not as direct encouragement, but as encouragement for separatism in the region of the North Caucasus, where there is already a difficult situation, and taking such steps could lead to new aggression against Georgia."

And Giorgi Khutsishvili, director of the Centre for Conflicts and Negotiations, wondered if Georgia was deliberately trying to anger the Russians.

"I don't understand why it was necessary to do this now, when our relations with Russia are broken, there are no talks and the Georgian authorities themselves say that the war with Russia is effectively not over, while Georgian territories are still occupied. In such conditions, the introduction of a visa-free regime for residents of an enemy state has to be risky," he said.

"It looks like we are artificially worsening the situation in the expectation of provocations, so as to be able to react to them."

Nino Kharadze is a reporter for Radio Liberty.