Eurasia Press & News
The Georgian government says it is looking for between one and two billion euros to rebuild after its 10-day border war with Russia. It has cost Tbilisi dear. It has seen Gori wrecked, the military port at Poti destroyed, and airbases and railway lines put out of action.
Finland’s Alexander Stubb chairs the OSCE. “The good news is that the aid seems to be unhindered. It gets here, we get the food, we get the help. But the bad news is that civilian protection does not exist,†he said.
In South Ossetia, the future is more uncertain than ever. Thousands of refugees and hundreds of wounded are left to pick up the pieces in a battlefield where little infrastructure exists to help them.
One elderly man has immediate concerns. “I don’t have a house. I have nowhere to live now. When it rains, it comes straight into the houses. I have no belongings left,†he said.
How much money South Ossetia needs to rebuild is unknown, but the Georgians have said they want some money earmaked for development. For the moment, US emergency aid has started to arrive on regular flights.
