There is panic in Georgia, which fears an extension of the war in Ukraine after the establishment of a new Russian naval base in Abkhazia.
In particular, 50 Georgian opposition MPs have addressed NATO and EU member states calling for a united stand against Russia's plan to establish a permanent naval base in the breakaway Georgian region.
Russia is building a naval base in Abkhazia - Fear in Georgia of expanding the war in Ukraine
The Kremlin's plans have raised fears that the base could draw Georgia into Russia's war in Ukraine and damage Tbilisi's plans in the Black Sea.
"We unanimously and unequivocally condemn Russia's occupation, militarization and other actions aimed at annexing the occupied territories of Georgia, the new expression of which is the opening of a permanent Russian naval base in the port of Ochamchire," the statement of the MPs said.
Weeks earlier, Abkhazia's de facto leader, Aslan Bzhania, had confirmed that an agreement had been signed with the Kremlin for a permanent naval base in the Black Sea port of Ochamchire.
The status of Abkhazia
Abkhazia is internationally recognised as part of Georgia, but has been under the control of Russian and separatist forces since the 1990s.
Georgia's foreign ministry condemned Russia's plan as "a flagrant violation of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity", although authorities in Tbilisi downplayed the importance of the permanent naval base, describing it as a non-imminent threat.
"Even if they start building the base at Ochamchire, it will take them at least three years," Nikoloz Samkharadze, head of Georgia's Foreign Relations Committee, told the BBC. "We are focused on imminent threats and not on threats that may come in the future."
He says the government is more focused on Georgian civilians killed or abducted by Russian forces near the occupation line separating Georgia from its breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Satellite photos show Russian operations at the port of Ochamchire
BBC Newsnight and Verify have analysed satellite images indicating new dredging and construction work at the port since Russia's full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
According to the de facto administration of Abkhazia, these dredging operations meant that Ochamchire could now accommodate larger cargo ships with a displacement of up to 13,000 tonnes.
Georgia will be in the eye of the storm
Ukraine's intelligence service claims the project is being done to allow warships from the Russian Black Sea fleet to use Ochamchire as a safe port.
If Russia used Ochamchire to attack Ukraine or if Ukraine chose to target Russian naval vessels there, then Georgia would become part of the war, says Natia Seskuria of the Royal United Services Institute.
"If Putin wants to involve Georgia or somehow drag it into this war, he will do so if it is in his interest and he has all the possibilities to put pressure on Tbilisi , unfortunately," she said.
However, there is not only fear in Georgia that it will be dragged into the war, but there are concerns that Tbilisi's own plans for a major infrastructure project on the Black Sea coast could be obstructed.
The 'Silk Road' and the role of the port of Anaclia, Georgia
A deep-water port in Anaklia is the closest Georgian city to Russian-controlled Abkhazia.
The Anaklia project is considered vital to boosting trade along the so-called Middle Corridor, the fastest route for delivering cargo from Asia to Europe.
The route avoids using Russia as an overland route and the World Bank has estimated that it could halve travel times and triple trade volumes by 2030.
Nikoloz Samkharadze, who chairs the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said accusations that his government was pro-Russian were "absurd".
"How on earth can a pro-Russian government sign an association agreement with the European Union, obtain visa-free status with the European Union and candidate status for the European Union?" Samkharadze said.
Georgia has been at war with Russia three (3) times in the last 30 years
However, he said Tbilisi was obliged to tread carefully with its northern neighbour.
"We have had three wars with Russia in the last 30 years. We don't have the security umbrella of NATO. We don't have the economic solidarity of the EU."
He argued that Russia is using Ochamchir to threaten Georgia over its ambitions to join the EU.
A final decision on Georgia's bid for EU candidate status is expected by European leaders at their December summit this week.
"The Russians always use the best time to undermine first Georgia's stability and second Georgia's quest for European integration," he said.
"They are trying to show our European and American partners that they are masters in the South Caucasus so they can do what they want."
The Russian-Turkish plan for the Black Sea
Russia and Turkey have been drawing up a plan to turn the Black Sea into a lake, with the Turkish Naval Chief of Staff stating recently that "We don't want America and NATO in the Black Sea".
Erdogan looks forward to sharing the Black Sea with his friend Putin after the end of the war in Ukraine, by satelliteing Romania-Bulgaria-Ukraine, which have negligible navies compared to those of Russia and Turkey.
He wants the Turkish President to elevate the Black Sea as a Turkish "mare nostrum", using it as leverage on the US-NATO to serve its own ends, excluding them from any activity in it.
Indicative of how Turkey sees its position in NATO vis-à-vis Russia is the arrangement of the Turkish navy and its many bases in the Aegean-NE Mediterranean compared to almost none in the Black Sea.
