New Eastern Europe Issue 1

The Caucasus, a Journey in Time – A conversation with Wojciech Jagielski
is a Dutchwoman, Sandra Roelofs. Do these
women play a greater political role in
the countries ruled by their husbands? No,
they do not. Actually, Nino Burjanadze is
the only exception to the rule.
Will it ever be possible to freely and safely
travel throughout the Caucasus?
Th e confl ict in the Caucasus has been
present, with short breaks, for over four
hundred years. Th ere is nothing to indicate
that total peace could be restored in
that area. Russia bitterly guards its sphere
of infl uence in the Caucasus, while not
off ering much to its inhabitants. As a rule,
Russia fi nds Caucasian highlanders to be
disloyal, untrustworthy people.
When did you fi nd out that you were not
welcome in the countries of the Commonwealth
of Independent States because of
your writing and reporting?
It was in 2008, when I tried to leave
Georgia after the Russian-Georgian war.
Th e airport in Tbilisi was shut down, so
I bought a ticket for a plane leaving from
Yerevan and set off for Armenia. I was detained
at the border between Georgia and
Armenia. I was told, “the photo-journalist
can go, but you must stay”. I thought it was
a mistake. I had not been to Armenia for
years. Th e customs offi cers said that they
could not reveal the reason why they would
not let me in. Later, when they went
out to have a smoke, they let the truth out
and told me that I was on the blacklist of
people who should not be allowed to enter
the territory of the Commonwealth of
Independent States.
Interview 101
I was at a total loss; after all Georgia,
from where we had just come, formally
still belonged to the Commonwealth.
I called the secretary to President Saakashvili
who assured me that I could
re-enter Georgia. Since I gave no reason
to any of the Caucasus countries to
disfavour me, my next guess was that it
was because of my disregard for Russian
law. I had travelled to Chechnya many
times without permission. Th e Russian
embassy complained that I interviewed
people who they considered terrorists.
After I conducted an interview with
Sheik Abdul Khalim Saidullayev, the
Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza, where
the interview was published, was accused
of supporting terrorism.
What’s interesting is that at the same
time I was called a Russian lackey on
the caliphate’s offi cial web site only because
I edited the interview removing
all longer references to God that followed
each question. Had I published
a full version, it would fi ll the pages of
two weekend editions of the paper. As
a result I decided to shift my interest to
Afghanistan and recently to Africa. Now
I am leaving journalism and focusing on
writing a book.
Was it a good move for Poland to get involved
militarily in Afghanistan?
Th ere was no other choice. Perhaps
there wasn’t really a need for such a large
contingent (2,600 soldiers) and I wonder
how we benefi t from the continued
presence of our soldiers there. Th e fact
that soldiers are trained in real combat,