UN Extends Georgia Mission for Four Months

UN Security Council agreed on February 13 to extend its observer mission’s mandate in Georgia for next four months, pending new provisions for "revised security regime."

The resolution, passed unanimously, says the mission mandate will be extended “for a new period terminating on 15 June 2009;” meanwhile, it reads, the Council “expresses its intention to outline the elements of a future United Nations presence,” based on recommendations by UN Secretary General on the matter expected to be outlined by May 15.
 
The text of the resolution “recalls” Security Council’s two previous resolutions, including 1808 of April, 2008, which supports “sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders;” as well as the October, 2008 resolution, which was, what the diplomats call, “a technical rollover” simply extending the mission’s mandate till February 15, 2009.

The resolution also says that the Security Council “welcomes” the August 12 ceasefire agreement and accord on subsequent implementation measures signed on September 8.

The Security Council called on the parties to respect security regime, outlined in the 1994 Moscow agreement, envisaging 24-km disarmament zone on the both sides of the Abkhaz administrative border. The agreement has been annulled after the August war, following Georgia’s withdrawal from the treaty. Georgia, however, signed a memorandum with EU monitoring mission undertaking commitment to restrict its troops and arms deployment in a 15-km radius from the Abkhaz administrative border.

The resolution “underlines the need… to ensure without distinction… the right of persons to freedom of movement and the protection of the property of refugees and displaced persons.” It also calls for facilitating internally displaced persons’ and refugees’ “voluntary, safe, dignified and unhindered return.”

Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, downplayed the fact that the resolution did not mention UN mission by its official name UNOMIG (United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia) – as it has been called for 15 years.

“The important is that this is one mission and one mechanism with the mandate to operate on the both sides [of the Abkhaz administrative border],” Vashadze said. “So the dream of the Russia’s puppet regime [in Abkhazia] to have two separate UN missions [one in Sokhumi and another one based in Tbilisi] will never come true.”

“The fundamental thing is there is no reference to territorial integrity of Georgia in this resolution and it would not have been possible to have it adopted had there been such a reference,” Russia’s UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said.

Rosemary DiCarlo, the United States UN envoy, however, said that the resolution “no way undermines” Georgia’s territorial integrity, as the text mentions previous resolution supporting the principle.

John Sawers, the British UN ambassador, said that the Council would now use next four months before the mandate expires “in order to find a more durable arrangement that reflects the situation on the ground and the needs of the people on the ground.”

Alexandre Lomaia, the Georgia’s UN ambassador, said that although Tbilisi welcomed the resolution, "we also understand that the resolution is of an interim nature.”

“We are looking forward to working closely with our friends as well as with the UN to come up with a comprehensive full-scale operation on the ground which will help peacekeeping and monitoring,” he said.

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