Kakha Kukava: Georgia has long valued democracy - a concept sadly unfamiliar to our President, Mikheil Saakashvili

Kakha Kukava is Secretary General of the Conservative Party of Georgia and responds here to recent articles about Georgia featured on ConservativeHome.

As a Conservative I believe in national independence, free markets, the rule of law, strong families and a minimum of state interference in the life of ordinary citizens.

I also believe in freedom of speech and tolerance and respect for others. In Georgia our Conservatism is forward thinking and progressive, just like that of David Cameron’s. That is why I hope, in the future, Georgian Conservatives will be able to develop strong links with their British counterparts.

I have seen the recent articles on ConservativeHome about Georgia and I very much welcome both the concern for our democratic rights and for my country’s stand against Russian aggression offered by, respectively, Carl Thomson and Liam Fox.

But I am concerned by the growing view that somehow these two Conservative impulses – protection for the individual and strong national defence – are in opposition in Georgia when, in fact, our best long-term defence against further Russian encroachment, and our only hope of reversing the occupation, is strong democracy at home.