The influential and authoritative Eurasianet, which, among other things, closely monitors the activities and proclivities of Russian and Chinese diplomacy, has broadcast a clear warning to Fiji: don’t be bribed by Russia! Ahead of the first official visit to Fiji by a Russian foreign minister, Eurasianet forecasts that the Russians will be seeking to obtain Fiji’s support for its policy of not recognizing the independence of the breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. All we can say is that the Russian policy towards its former satellite, Georgia, is little different to the repressive policy of the former Soviet Union towards countries like Hungary. In 2009 Russian troops and mercenaries killed thousands of Georgians over five days in a crude attempt to bring Georgia back into line. Does our beloved Fiji in the faraway and peaceful Pacific need to deal with, savage and ruthless regimes like that?
Eurasianet 31 January 2012 Russia in the South Pacific: The Ultimate Temptation of Fiji or Just “Happy Talk”?
