Europe’s rejection of this challenge would betray its fundamental duties in a place – small, Mediterranean, flexible, with old historical traditions – where democracy stands a much greater chance of success than in Ukraine, which is both huge and still very Soviet-minded, not to mention Central Asia. Indeed, refusal to support Georgia’s struggling democracy would most likely postpone democratic progress in Ukraine, Belarus, even in Russia itself.
格鲁吉亚是个小国，具有地中海式传统，灵活，而且具有古老的历史传统。乌克兰则既是一个大国，又非常具有苏联观念。民主在格鲁吉亚成功的机会要比乌克兰大得多，更不用说中亚国家了。欧洲如果回绝这一挑战将会背叛其在格鲁吉亚的根本性义务。实际上，拒绝支持格鲁吉亚奋斗中的民主将肯定推迟在乌克兰、白俄罗斯甚至是俄罗斯自身的民主进程。