CoE Secretary General Visits Georgia

Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, arrived in Tbilisi for a three-day official visit to Georgia on April 14.

The CoE press office reported that Terry Davis’ visit follows an invitation by President Mikheil Saakashvili to be a facilitator in finding a solution to the status of South Ossetia. The CoE Secretary General told reporters upon his arrival in Tbilisi that along with other issue he will also discuss Abkhazian and South Ossetian conflict resolution with the Georgian authorities.

The Secretary General has planned talks with President Saakashvili, Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli, Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili, Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze and the Georgian delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said on April 13 that the Georgian side will conduct ?sincere talks? with Terry Davis over implementation those commitments which Georgia undertook while joining the CoE in 1999.

?We have really succeeded in implementing some of these commitments recently. But there are also [commitments] which, due to objective reasons, Georgia can not fulfil now,? Burjanadze said, but she did not elaborate. However, it is likely that she was referring to a commitment regarding the repatriation of Meskhetians who had been deported.

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