22 ambassadors of the OSCE member countries paid fact-finding visit to Georgia on March 17-31 and visited breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, they also traveled at the troubled Chechen section of the Georgian-Russian state borderline, which is being observed by the OSCE border monitoring mission.
German Ambassador Dieter Boden who previously served as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special representative for the Abkhaz conflict was also in the delegation.
Dieter Boden expressed concern regarding the standstill in the Abkhaz peace process saying “there is no progress in Georgian-Abkhazian relations.”
During talks in the Abkhaz capital, OSCE delegation called the Abkhaz leadership to consider as a basis for resolving the conflict with Tbilisi the 2002 document drafted by Boden. The Abkhaz leadership has consistently refused to consider that draft, which is based on the premise that Abkhazia is the part of Georgia.
“The international community is ready to support any initiative, but only within the territorial integrity of Georgia” said Roland Striker, Ambassador of the Netherlands to OSCE.
During the meeting with the OSCE delegation, the authorities of the breakaway Abkhazia declared that Sokhumi will not conduct talks with Tbilisi on determination of the Abkhaz status within the Georgian state, but would like to cooperate in economic matters.
“We have stopped talks about the political status with Tbilisi long ago. We do not want to be a part of Georgia. Regarding economic issues, we are ready to discuss the results of meeting of President [Vladimir] Putin and President [Eduard] Shevardnadze in Sochi on March 6-7. We are waiting for constructive proposals from the both sides,” Sergei Shamba, foreign minister of the self-declared Abkhaz Republic said as quoted by the Abkhaz official news agency Apsnipress.
The key part of the Sochi agreement is Abkhazia’s economic rehabilitation, restoration of Sochi-Tbilisi railway in parallel to return of the Georgian IDPs to their homes and first of all to Gali region.
The Georgian side, which already openly expresses its discontent with the role of UN in the conflict resolution, is strongly interested in involving other countries, such as the US, and other international organizations in the conflict resolution process. However neither Sokhumi nor the Russian side shows much eagerness towards OSCE to be involved in the conflict resolution.
Genadi Gagulia, Abkhaz de facto Prime Minister said he sees “no reason why the OSCE should become involved in mediating a solution to the Abkhaz conflict, as the UN already plays a leading role in doing so.”
Sokhumi’s skepticism towards OSCE is not surprising. OSCE was the first international organization, which condemned “ethnic cleansing” of Georgians in Abkhazia first at the Budapest Summit in 1994 and at Lisbon Summit in 1996.
Georgian politicians have not forgotten this either. “OSCE was the first international organization that gave adequate assessment to the Abkhazian tragedy and has always actively participated in resolving the problems, which Georgia is facing,” Nino Burjanadze, chairperson of the Georgian Parliament, said during the meeting with the OSCE ambassadors on March 28.
Experts believe that Russia will also be displeased with increased role of the OSCE in conflict resolution. Georgia recently drew on OSCE presence at the border to balance the mounting Russian pressure.
During the last year, the OSCE observers, who monitor the troubled sections of the Georgian-Russian border, have registered several violations of the Georgian airspace and confirmed one fact of bombing of the Georgian territory by Russian aircraft, while Moscow has repeatedly expressed its protest and concern with prejudiced activities of OSCE in Georgia.
However, now Tbilisi counts more on the US rather than on OSCE, or the UN. President Shevardnadze has criticized the UN recently saying Security Council’s resolutions are ineffective.
“The Americans told us to give them some time and then they would deal with the Abkhazian issue as well,” President Shevardnadze stated on March 20.
But while the US has other, more urgent business at hand, Georgia seems willing to explore the possibilities with OSCE, hoping on a better deal than the one achieved with the UN participation so far.
By Goga Chanadiri, Giorgi Sepashvili, Civil Georgia
