Burjanadze Tells Russia not to ‘Exploit’ Elections in Georgia

Nino Burjanadze, the acting president, re-iterated claims on December 10 that Russia had deployed additional forces and military hardware in the Abkhaz conflict zone. She also called on the Russian leadership not “to exploit” the ongoing election process in Georgia.

“Such an attempt is really taking place,” Burjanadze said, “but I hope that the Russian authorities do not try to take advantage of the ongoing election process in Georgia.”

The Georgian authorities maintain that Russia has increased its military presence in Abkhazia without prior agreement with the Georgian side. Russia insists it is merely rotating troops.

Burjanadze also re-iterated a previous Georgian demand, “categorically” demanding that the Russian peacekeeping commander in Abkhazia, Sergey Chaban, be removed from his post.

“If the CIS peacekeeping forces have any respect for Georgia, this issue will be immediately resolved,” Burjanadze told reporters.

The Council of Defense Ministers of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) re-endorsed Chaban’s commission on November 27. It did so despite calls for his removal by Tbilisi.

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