EU Signals Plans to Engage More in Conflict Resolution

Peter Semneby, newly appointed EU’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus said on March 21 that conflict resolution issues are of EU’s high priority.

Speaking at a news conference in Tbilisi the Swedish diplomat noted that his mandate as EU’s Special Representative is different from his predecessor Heikki Talvitie and it “has more focus on conflict resolution.”

“But in reality there is nothing I can do that my predecessor was not able to do with his mandate… But I think one should see this as a signal from the European Union that it plans to engage more in conflict resolution and that conflict resolution is a high priority,” Peter Semneby said.

The EU’s new envoy, who held talks with the Georgian leadership, hailed measures the Georgian authorities are making “towards confidence building.”

He said Georgia should “act confidently but in a careful, measured way so that to avoid rush actions that will re-escalate situation.”

“This is difficult path and there will be many obstacles,” Peter Semneby added.

“The important point is that it is up to Georgia and the Georgian government to make major efforts. All the international actors are here to provide support whenever it is needed,” he said.

The EU envoy also said that he will always push the problematic issues with the Russian side if there are any.

“I think it is important to call all the things by the right name and if there are issues of concern related to Russian policies I have no problems at all to bring them with Russians and bringing them to attention of EU member states,” Peter Semneby said.