The human love and predilection for having borders and fences has as long a history as the story of civilization itself. This is my territory, and don’t you dare trespass it – a homo would exclaim as soon as it became a sapiens. A pronounced sen­se of private property, especially for the ownership of land is one of the keenest feelings ever. Man has killed for land, and will cut throat for it now, and in the future too. Where is this human greed for possessing a piece of land in private ownership stemming from? It has arrived from the need of securing a chance of survival. Today, survival is provided for by many other ways and means, invented throughout the human history, but land is still playing its crucial role in the multifaceted process of man’s continued existence. Now, to elevate the issue from private to national level, the above question might become slightly more complicated to answer – why have the nations always made wars against each other for a patch of somebody else’s land? This happened because land meant national security and prosperity. How about now? The current universal understanding is that land keeps functioning as a symbol and material substance of wellbeing. This might be very true, but nowadays, the nations of the world are enjoying so many alternate sources of good life, when the state borders are only turning into obstacles on the path of cooperation and peaceful coexistence between them. This is why the countries, especially the Western ones, are showing readiness to gradually open the previously tightly closed borders to other countries, but only optionally so far. Georgia is trying its best in this geopolitical respect, although the mile we need to go is still far away from the desired destination. It is surely unfortunate for us – and very unpleasant too – to admit that we need somebody else’s open borders more than they need ours. The world is welcome to Georgia, and our arms are open to embrace it, but the happy reciprocity in this matter is still limping and crippled. How long will this last? Not quite known and clear! Our government is clearly optimistic though in spite of the recent Eurounion decisions concerning Georgia’s free and equal travel exchange with the Old Continent. Whatever! You know, blessed are the believers... Understandably, Georgia is trying hard to get its foot into the European door, and there is nothing wrong about the intention, but the Russian attitude towards our cooperation with the West – call it the Eastern Partnership if you want – remains one of our most serious concerns. This is about the de facto shrinkage of our land, tending to trickle down surreptitiously into a frightening de jure finale. Being very well aware of the significance of land in human existence, Russia has masterfully created for Georgia a teasing and scaring bait – our grabbed and annexed historical lands – to make the Georgians stick forever to the idea that Russia could still be a friend and partner. You understand now why so eager the nations of the world are to snatch away lands from each other? Taken land makes it easier to manipulate neighbors at your own will and discretion. Russia is a blunt but very astute player in those wicked geopolitical games. Meanwhile, Georgia wants to say no to borders between the countries, and this seems to be somewhat incomprehensible on our part when our own borders are left as they are – insecure, unprotected, open and free for trespassing. If land is so important to possess, it should also be preserved and taken care of. Can we do that? I wish we could! This is the time when open borders would help Georgia in many different ways, but if the borders are open, the patronage over our cherished lands might weaken because countless number of our citizens may start abandoning the sacred Georgian land, which so much blood has been spilled for throughout history. On the other hand, who cares about the spilled blood and importance of land in the survival of the state? People need food in the first place – the damned stomach is so determinative! And then – the land, the motherland, the tradition, the culture and myriad other appreciable values! Russia and West are talking radically different languages, but it seems that in solid political matters they are sneakily together. West does not want to anger Russia too much. West is walking in the so called preferable median which is not very attractive for Georgia. Georgia needs straight, clear and quick decisions in its own favor, but West is feeding us with the newly invented but very fuzzy terms like shared values, collective norms, joint ownership, top-down governance, etc. What does this clatter of words mean for God’s sake, and why should they make sense to us? And how are they healing our worst soreness, called territorial integrity and open borders with Europe. Isn’t it very ‘encouraging’ that Westerners are telling us all the time that on our way to European integration and free travel, we will have supporters, skeptics and opponents in equal numbers! Oh, really? As if we did not know that! We would rather know exactly how far we actually are from the spot where Russia may no longer be a threat for Georgia she is today.