PM Nogaideli Speak of South Ossetia at Tbilisi Forum

Speaking at the Tbilisi Forum ?Europe’s New Wave of Liberation? Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli reiterated that the Georgian authorities ?are committed to solving the South Ossetian conflict peacefully? and presented Tbilisi?s action plan over South Ossetia to the participants ? the one he already presented at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna in October.

He said that this plan is in line with the three-phase peace initiative voiced by President Saakashvili at the UN General Assembly last September.

?During the first phase we need to demilitarize the region. The region is now heavily militarized. There are about 5,000 trained people in militant groups [there]. Because of this there is a high level of fear among the population of the region. There are 35-40,000 people living [in South Ossetia], 1/3 of which are Georgians and 2/3 ? Ossetians. We need to remove the fear which has taken root as a result of these militant groups,? Nogaideli said.

He said that the second phase deals with confidence-building and economic cooperation.

?The second phase is to bring investments into the infrastructure of the region… We are talking about the creation of economic development opportunities there,? he said.

Nogaideli said that in this respect it is important to legalize transit and cross-border trade via the Roki tunnel, which links South Ossetia with the Russia?s North Ossetian republic and is under the control of the South Ossetian authorities.

?We do not suggest that this tunnel be  closed. We are talking about legalizing transit through the Roki tunnel. It should not in the hands of small groups but people should benefit from this [transit route] through the Roki tunnel,? the Georgian Prime Minister said.

?The third phase is to launch political negotiations on the status? at the population level, this conflict is largely resolved and it is high time the governments come in,? he added.

Nogaideli also reiterated Tbilisi’s position over the necessity to change the current Russian-dominated negotiating format for South Ossetia.

?The current framework is unable to address problems. The recent meeting of the Joint Control Commission in Ljubljana ended without any results? We need not only decisions to be made but we need these decisions to be implemented and we need to demilitarize the region? We have approached the U.S. OSCE and EU to actively participate in the negotiation process,? Nogaideli said.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)