Russia Rejects Extension of Georgian Border Guard Training
Speaking at the OSCE Permanent Council on March 23 Russian Ambassador to the OSCE Aleksey Borodavkin said that the proposal of the OSCE Mission in Georgia about further extension of the Training Assistance Program for the Georgian Border Guards was a surprise for him.
“I would like to clarify the issue: pursuant to the decision No 713, the Permanent Council extended the period of implementation of the program until June 2006 with a view to closing the program by 31 July 2006. Upon expiration of this term, the Mission will have no legal ground to implement this or similar programs either on a budgetary or non-budgetary basis,” Russian Ambassador Borodavkin said during his speech, which was posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website on March 24.
The OSCE Permanent Council approved the Training Assistance Programme for Georgian Border Guards (TAP) last April.
Prior to it, the OSCE halted its Border Monitoring Operation at the Russo-Georgian border in December 2004, after Russia vetoed to discuss the prolongation of this mission. Georgia had been urging the OSCE since then for at least the launching a training program for the Georgian border guards.
