Quotes of the Day

When Mikheil Saakashvili led Georgia's bloodless "revolution of the roses" to oust Eduard Shevardnadze as President in November, he demonstrated formidable political skills: an ability to excite a crowd, a flair for clandestine organization, a taste for brinkmanship. Now President Saakashvili is using those skills to try and bring Ajaria — one of three breakaway regions — back into the fold.

An economically important Black Sea region, Ajaria is run by Aslan Abashidze, a tough, rich autocrat Saakashvili has called a "feudal chief." When the President turned up on Ajaria's borders, ostensibly to campaign for allies running in the March 28 parliamentary elections, Abashidze's men barred his way. Saakashvili promptly slapped a blockade on the region. After a tense few days he traveled to Ajaria's capital Batumi to negotiate with Abashidze.

It was a classic Saakashvili performance — he worked the streets, shaking hands with everyone he met. Some of those waiting for him carried red roses. He emerged from the talks with Abashidze and declared them successful. "We have resolved all the issues," he said, and lifted the blockade. But his aides say the week's events were carefully choreographed to underline Abashidze's authoritarianism and stir up voters in Saakashvili's favor. Saakashvili believes Abashidze's party will be wiped out at the polls, allowing the new legislature to curb Ajaria's autonomy. If Abashidze tries to fix the vote — as Shevardnadze did in November — Saakashvili's supporters in Ajaria will launch their own revolution of the roses.

But even if the best-case scenario pans out in Ajaria, Saakashvili has two much more difficult nuts to crack — South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which have been resisting Tbilisi by force of arms for more than a decade.

• PAUL QUINN-JUDGE
• Georgia's new president tries to reign in breakaway region