OSCE Official Welcomes Abkhaz Railway Deal

Speaking at the OSCE Economic Forum, which concluded in Prague on May 24, Special Envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office Pierre Chevalier welcomed plans for a railroad project via breakaway Abkhazia, which will connect Russia and Armenia via Georgia.

In early May the Georgian, Abkhaz, Russian, and Armenian sides signed a protocol on establishing a consortium – the Black Sea Railways – which will rehabilitate the Abkhaz railway.

“Everything must be done to entice parties to a conflict to find complementary ways to overcome their differences… One possible contribution in this respect is to lay emphasis on the economic and social interests they have in common,” Pierre Chevalier said.

He also noted that projects proposed after an OSCE Needs Assessment Study in breakaway South Ossetia included transportation infrastructure. A donors’ conference will be held in Brussels on 14 June.