Georgia May Discuss CIS, Peacekeepers in July

Influential lawmaker from the ruling National Movement party Givi Targamadze, who chairs the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security, proposed on May 10 to discuss the performance of the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the Abkhaz conflict zone, Georgia’s possible withdrawal from the CIS, and the Georgian government’s peace plan over Abkhazia simultaneously in July.

Last October, the Georgian Parliament passed a resolution which set a deadline for improvment of the Russian peacekeepers’ performance in the Abkhaz conflict zone and instructed the Georgian government to prepare “a detailed road map for implementing a Abkhazia peace plan by May 1, 2006.”  Officials say that the plan will be ready by late May.

“According to the Parliament’s resolution, we should discuss the issue of the peacekeepers in July. I hope the government’s position over quitting the CIS [the Commonwealth of Independent States] and Abkhazia’s peace plan will be prepared by that time. I think it would be better if the Parliament hears all threeof these issues together and makes relevant decisions,” Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security Givi Targamadze said on May 10. 
   
Meanwhile, Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava said on May 10 that the Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in Abkhaz conflict zone under the CIS aegis are failing to fulfill their duties.
 
“If we take into account the fact that the mandate is not fulfilled, naturally their [Russian peacekeepers’] presence [in the conflict zone] is not appropriate,” Khaindrava said.