Eduard Shevardnadze

Eduard Amvrosiyevich Shevardnadze (Georgian: ?????? ??????????, Russian: ??????? ???????????? ????????????; pronounced ed-oo-ard am-vro-see-ye-vitch she-va-rd-nad-zuh) (born 25 January 1928) is a Georgian politician. He served under Mikhail Gorbachev as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union from 1985 to 1990 and was the President of Georgia from 1995 until 23 November 2003, when he resigned in the midst of mounting criticism following disputed parliamentary elections. Shevardnadze's political skills earned him the nickname "Tetri Melia" ("White Fox"), while his former American negotiating partners, the first President Bush and Secretary of State James Baker, reportedly preferred to use "Shevvy".

Georgian president

The newly independent Republic of Georgia elected as its first president a leader of the nationalist movement, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, a famous scientist and writer, who had been imprisoned by Shevardnadze's government in the late 1970s. Gamsakhurdia's rule ended abruptly in January 1992 when he was deposed in a coup d'état and forced to flee to the Chechen Republic in neighboring Russia. Shevardnadze was appointed acting chairman of the Georgian state council in March 1992. When the Presidency was restored in November 1995, he was elected with 70% of the vote. He secured a second term in April 2000 in an election that was marred by widespread claims of vote-rigging.

Related Topics:
Zviad Gamsakhurdia - 1992 - Chechen Republic - Russia - 1995 - 2000 - Vote-rigging

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Shevardnadze's career as Georgian president was in some respects even more challenging than his earlier career as Soviet foreign minister. He faced many enemies, some dating back to his campaigns against corruption and nationalism in Soviet times. A civil war in western Georgia broke out in 1993 between supporters of Gamsakhurdia and Shevardnadze but was ended by Russian intervention on Shevardnadze's side and the death of ex-President Gamsakhurdia on December 31, 1993. Two assassination attempts were mounted against Shevardnadze in August 1995 and February 1998 which his government blamed on remnants of Gamsakhurdia's party. He also faced separatist conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which caused the deaths of an estimated 10,000 people, as well as an assertively autonomous government in Ajaria.

Related Topics:
December 31 - 1993 - 1995 - 1998 - Ossetia - Abkhazia - Ajaria

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The war in the Russian republic of Chechnya on Georgia's northern border caused considerable friction with Russia, which accused Shevardnadze of harbouring Chechen guerrillas and supported Georgian separatists in apparent retaliation. Further friction was caused by Shevardnadze's close relationship with the United States, which saw him as a counterbalance to Russian influence in the strategic Transcaucasus region. Under Shevardnadze's strongly pro-Western administration, Georgia became a major recipient of U.S. foreign and military aid, signed a strategic partnership with NATO and declared an ambition to join both NATO and the EU. Perhaps his greatest diplomatic coup was the securing of a $3 billion project to build a pipeline carrying oil from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia.

Related Topics:
Chechnya - United States - Transcaucasus - Pipeline - Oil - Azerbaijan - Turkey

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At the same time, however, Georgia suffered badly from the effects of crime and rampant corruption, often perpetrated by well-connected officials and politicians. Shevardnadze's closest advisers, including several members of his family, exerted disproportionate economic power. It was estimated by outside observers that Shevardnadze's inner circle controlled as much 70 per cent of the economy: his wife edited and wrote for one of the country's major newspapers, and his daughter was the director of a film studio and one of the country's leading mobile phone networks. While Shevardnadze himself was not a conspicuous profiteer, he was accused by many Georgians of shielding corrupt supporters and using his powers of patronage to shore up his own position. Georgia acquired an unenviable reputation as one of the world's most corrupt countries. Eventually, even his American supporters grew tired of pouring money into an apparent black hole.

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