OSCE Chairman-in-Office Speaks of South Ossetian Conflict

OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, who opened the Joint Control Commission (JCC) session on the South Ossetian conflict on November 15 in Ljubljana, said that demilitarization of the conflict zone is ?the most immediate task? and called on the sides to agree on ?a solid action plan which should be fully and rapidly implemented,? the OSCE press office reported.

He also called on the sides to implement all those previous agreements, including on demilitarization, which have been reached by the sides in frames of the JCC.

“It is an unfortunate fact, that those agreements have largely failed to be implemented. Declarations of intent might be necessary but they are not sufficient. More has to be done in practice,” Dimitrij Rupel said.

He also said that close cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of the South Ossetian and Georgian sides ?could genuinely contribute to stabilizing the situation in the zone of conflict and serve as a catalyst for increased confidence building among the population.”

One indicator of the willingness on both sides to move in this direction would be the early establishment of a joint police Special Co-ordination Centre in Tskhinvali, he added.

“The [conflict resolution] process should not be static and, given the tools at our disposal, there is room and opportunity to move it forward in a positive and proactive way. The responsibility for that lies with you gathered around this table,” Dimitrij Rupel told negotiators from the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and Russia?s North Ossetian sides, which make up the JCC.

He also urged the participants to pave the way for an early dialogue at the highest level with the participation of the Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli and South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity.

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