CoE Head Denies Willingness to Invite Secessionist Leaders
The Council of Europe (CoE) has denied that its secretary-general, Terry Davis, was willing to invite the Abkhaz and South Ossetian secessionist leaders to Strasbourg to hear their points of view. Such reports, the CoE press office said in a statement on January 24, ?are completely untrue.?
?The position of the Secretary General in support of the territorial integrity of Georgia is unequivocal, well known and consistent. He has no intention to invite or meet any representatives from these two breakaway regions which are a part of Georgia, and he has made no statements to this effect,? the statement reads.
Tbilisi-based Mze TV reported on January 23 that Davis, ?wants to see invitations extended to the de facto leaders, because hearing from them in person would allow for better understanding.?
Davis, speaking with Georgian journalists in Strasbourg on the sidelines of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s (PACE) winter session, was also quoted, at least according to the translation, as saying that ?all forms of dialogue should be used to resolve these conflicts”. He also said, according to Mze TV, that “the details [of the possible invitation for the secessionists leaders to speak] still need to be agreed.?
The proposal to invite the secessionist leaders, according to Georgian TV reports on January 23, came from the Armenian PACE delegation and was supported by Russia. No formal decision has yet been taken.
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