Burjanadze Comments on Kosovo

Kosovo can not serve as a model for Abkhazia and South Ossetia and making it a precedent is not in the interests of Russia itself, Nino Burjanadze, the parliamentary chairperson, said on February 18.

“The major reason why it can not serve as a precedent is that there was genocide and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. So comparing Kosovo with Abkhazia and South Ossetia is totally groundless and unacceptable,” Burjanadze said.

She said she hoped the upcoming meeting between the Georgian and Russian presidents planned for February 21 in Moscow would produce positive results and help to normalize bilateral relations.

Meanwhile, the nine-party opposition coalition, as well as the Labor and New Rights opposition parties called on the authorities not to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

Kote Gabashvili, a lawmaker from the ruling party and chairman of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs, told Civil.Ge on February 18 that Georgia should not recognize the independence of Kosovo, regardless of what other states do. “We will have a restrained position and we should rule out any recognition of Kosovo,” he said.