Senior MP: Russian Peacekeepers Obstacle in S.Ossetia

Influential Georgian parliamentarian Giga Bokeria said on June 1 that “Georgia will spare no efforts” to withdraw Russian peacekeeping troops from South Ossetia “and this process of withdrawal will not and can not last for ever.”

On February 15, 2006 the Georgian Parliament passed a resolution instructing the Georgian authorities to replace the current Russian-led peacekeeping operation in the South Ossetian conflict zone with “an effective international peacekeeping operation.” But the resolution set no timeframe, or deadline for the Georgian government.

MP Bokeria said that the goal of the Georgian authorities is “to effectively restore control” over South Ossetia and he also added that the Russian peacekeepers “play the role of an obstacle” in this process.

“We should do this with minimal losses… On the road to political resolution, on which we are heading, it is impossible to fulfill this goal while there are Russian peacekeepers [in the region],” Bokeria told reporters.