Parliament Passes Resolution on Peacekeepers

The Georgian Parliament approved a resolution on July 18 with 144 votes instructing the government to launch relevant procedures in order to immediately suspend, as the document reads, ?the so-called peacekeeping operations? in breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

?It is clear that actions undertaken by the Russian Federation?s armed forces in Abkhazia and in former autonomous district of South Ossetia represent one of the major obstacles on the way to solve these conflicts peacefully,? the resolution reads and accuses Russia of ?a permanent attempt to annex Georgia?s territory.?

But the Parliament?s resolution does not mean that the mandate of peacekeeping troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia will automatically be ceased. It is now up to the executive authorities to denounce those agreements which make a legal base of current peacekeeping operations in the conflict zones.

?This is a historic resolution and I want to express hope that the resolution will be fulfilled very soon,? Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze said.

Opposition lawmakers, who are boycotting the parliamentary sessions since March 31, 2006, refused to participate in the discussion of the resolution on peacekeepers.

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