New Chairman-in-Office Speaks of OSCE Role in South Ossetia, Abkhazia

In his address to the OSCE Permanent Council on January 13, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel said that the issue of resolving the South Ossetian conflict ?should be high? on the OSCE agenda. He also said that the organization should continue to support the UN-led settlement process in breakaway Abkhazia.

?In Georgia, the conflict around South Ossetia should be high on our agenda. The OSCE has a clear mandate and our presence is established. We will continue to facilitate the political process and to support de-militarization as agreed by the parties. Confidence-building and economic rehabilitation should be part of a concrete approach to bring sustainable peace to this long-troubled region of Georgia,? Dimitrij Rupel, the Foreign Minister of Slovenia, which took on the Chairmanship of the OSCE on January 1, said.

?In Abkhazia we should continue to support UN-led settlement process. Hopefully recent developments will accelerate negotiation process and promote establishment of a joint UN-OSCE Human Rights Office in the Gali region, which could also contribute to a return of the displaced population,? the OSCE Chairman-in-Office added.