Recurring Deposit Interrest Formula

Great Mother Russia, Great Mother Georgia Infantry

This week's Much-Anticipated European Union-commissioned report into the causes of the Russian-Georgian war of August 2008 predictably spread the blame for the conflict around. While Georgia was also censured, the text is devastating to Russia's narrative of the conflict.

Assisted by a small army of experts, Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini has spent close to a year investigating the origins of the war that initially shocked Europe but then was relatively quickly forgotten in the midst of the global economic crisis that succeeded it.

The press has so far focused on the commission's conclusion that Georgia started the war . That should, however, not be confused with the question of responsibility: Firing the first shot does not necessarily mean being the aggressor . The report acknowledges this, concluding that, "there is no way to assign overall responsibility for the conflict to one side alone." The report details the extended series of Russian provocations , accelerating in the spring of 2008, that precipitated the war .

Svant e E. Cornell, Europe Exposes Russia's Guilt in Georgia, Wall Street Journal , October 1st 2009

So, according to the independent report commissioned by the EU, the August 2008 war in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is under the responsibility of both Russia and Georgia .

Despite the anti-Russian position of Cornell, the report reduces the responsibilities of Moscow, blaming Tbilisi for shooting first. This reverse , if not completely at least partially, the European widely shared view of an aggressive and disrespectful Russia . In particular, some populist and pseudo-regionalist/nationalist parties (above all, Northern League in Italy and Vlaams Belang in Belgium) have advocated the cause of the Georgians, defending David from the aggression of Goliath.

Nothing more wrong than that, on the contrary, since both South Ossetia and Abkhazia claim since the dissolution of the Soviet Union their independence (or at least a large autonomy) from Georgia , recognizing their proximity to Russia and their distance to the main national group leading in Tbilisi. Actually, Abkhazia has been involved in the early '90s in a cruel conflict with the Georgian government, leading to a de facto separation of the Republic from Georgia, however not recognized by the international community (with the exception of Russia).

Sadly , the claims and the arguments of Ossetians and Abkhazians seem misteriously forgotten the report, which is reduced to a mere - although extremely detailed - analysis of the diplomatic balance between Russia and Georgia.

So, this war and this never ending conflict in the Caucasus has, so far, no winners and no losers, except the oppressed populations of these lands, who constantly live under the threat of both Georgian and Russian armies and who are denied their self-determination rights over and over again.

Oh well, maybe there is a loser : the ridiculous, pathetic populism of some part of the European right. Shall Ossetians and Abkhazian expect any apologize from Mr. Bossi & co.?