Oct. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Former Georgian parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze said President Mikheil Saakashvili was to blame for the five-day war with Russia in August 2008.

A European Union-appointed panel report released yesterday said that while Georgia fired the first shots, Russia’s allies committed acts of ethnic cleansing against Georgian civilians.

The report proved “Saakashvili is unable to rule the country wisely and he and his government must bear responsibility,” Burjanadze told reporters in the capital Tbilisi today. The opposition “must continue its fight against Saakashvili’s presidency to save Georgia.”

Burjanadze led Saakashvili’s United National Movement party after the so-called Rose Revolution that swept him to power in 2003. In December, she said the president was “acting irresponsibly” and called for early elections.

Georgia’s army was routed by Russia in the war over the separatist region of South Ossetia. Russia later recognized the independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, a move condemned by the U.S. and many European countries. Russia plans to deploy about 3,700 soldiers in each region.

“It is clear, that the International community is fully aware now, that Saakashvili started this war and forced Russia to invade,” Burjanadze said.

Georgia’s opposition has called repeatedly for early parliamentary and presidential elections since the war, blaming the president for Georgia’s defeat, which inflicted about $1 billion in damage on the economy.

‘Ethnic Cleansing’

Saakashvili said the report was a “diplomatic victory for Georgia.”

“The report clearly exposed facts about the war, like ethnic cleansing and mass invasion from Russia,” he said on state television. “We did not have any allusions that the EU would just point the finger” at Russian President Vladimir Putin. “But this document is enough to blame Russia what has been done last year.”

Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh said Saakashvili is misrepresenting the situation.

“Saakashvili’s reckless and hostile behavior towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which continues to this day, has changed the political landscape forever,” he said in an e-mailed statement. “Abkhazia is an independent nation and will never again return to Georgian rule.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Helena Bedwell in Tbilisi at hbedwell@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 1, 2009 11:13 EDT