Tbilisi Concerned over Moscow’s Stance on Georgia’s Territorial Integrity
In an address to the UN Security Council on January 26 the Georgian President’s Special Representative for Abkhazia Irakli Alasania expressed concern regarding, as he put it, the “unexpected and worrisome” trend involving Russia’s decision “to disassociate itself from supporting” Georgia’s territorial integrity.
“This disassociation also extends to the so-called Boden paper – “Basic Principles for the Distribution of the Competences between Tbilisi and Sokhumi” – which is the key document for the political settlement of the entire peace process,” said Irakli Alasania, who also chairs the Tbilisi-based Abkhaz government-in-exile.
He said that “renouncement of the principle of determining the status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia” means “support for secessionism as a phenomenon” as well as “endorsement of the ethnic cleansing of more than 300,000 citizens of Georgia.”
He also briefed the Security Council about Tbilisi’s priorities in respect to the resolution of the Abkhaz conflict and said that the Georgian side continues efforts within frames of a “policy of pro-active engagement with the Abkhaz side.”
“The principal element of this initiative is based on the achievement of a comprehensive political settlement of the conflict through the recognition of legitimate interests of both Abkhazians and Georgians… Our policy of pro-active engagement has long-term goals to retreive the Abkhaz society out of isolation, to expose them to democratic values and beliefs,” Alasania said.
In his address to the Security Council Alasania also expressed concern regarding the deteriorating security situation in the predominantly Georgian-populated Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia.
He said that the Abkhaz authorities are “forcing” passports on the Georgian returnees in Gali, which is “accompanied by a threat of expulsion in cases of refusal” represents a clear demonstration of “the continuing ethnic cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia.”
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