Senior MP Comments on U.S. Position over Peacekeepers
Senor MP Kote Gabashvili, who is Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs, said the Parliament does not plan to give up its hard-line stance on the Russian peacekeepers, despite warnings from the U.S. that a demand to withdraw Russian peacekeeping troops from the South Ossetian conflict zone “without anything in their place may be destabilizing.”
Speaking at the OSCE Permanent Council on February 9, U.S. Ambassador to the OSCE Julie Finley said that Georgia should show caution while making a decision about the peacekeepers in South Ossetia.
“This is ordinary diplomatic advice of a friend and we should not overestimate the importance of this statement by the United States,” MP Gabashvili told Civil Georgia on February 9.
He said that the U.S. called for caution while making a decision on the peacekeepers and that Georgia is following this advice.
“The U.S. calls on us not to take such steps that might trigger provocations,” Gabashvili said.
“We did not demand the immediate withdrawal of the peacekeepers four months ago, when the Parliament passed the resolution on this issue, because we were very cautious regarding this issue. We want to thoroughly explain to the world why their [the Russian peacekeepers’] presence in the conflict zone is not productive – this hampers the implementation of the peace plan which has been supported by the OSCE, including at today’s session [of the OSCE Permanent Council],” he added.
He reiterated that on February 13 that the parliamentary committees for foreign relations and defense and security will discuss the performance of Russian peacekeepers in the South Ossetian conflict zone, while on February 15 the Parliament will adopt “a relevant decision.”
