Georgia Wants UN Mission, ‘But Not at Any Price’

Georgia is in favor of maintaining UN observer mission, “but not at any price,” Giga Bokeria, the Georgian deputy foreign minister, said on June 5.

UN Security Council will meet on June 12 to discuss the matter and the resolution by the Council is expected for June 15, when the current four-month mandate of UN observer mission, monitoring situation on the both sides of the Abkhaz administrative border, as well as in upper Kodori Gorge, expires.

“We are interested in maintaining the UN mission but not at any price and not at any strength,” Bokeria told journalists. “We hope that the result will be achieved – the UN mission will be maintained; a very firm position on Georgia’s territorial integrity will be reflected.”

He also said that he hoped scenario that took place in OSCE, when Russia blocked extension of the organization’s mission in Georgia, would not reoccur in the UN.

“Of course, we cannot rule out that Russia may continue to maintain its aggressive position as it did in OSCE. If that happens, Russia will remain in isolation like it happened in case of OSCE,” Bokeria added.

Meanwhile, a lawmaker from the parliamentary minority group Nika Laliashvili of the Christian-Democratic Movement (CDM) said on June 5, that official Tbilisi should retract statements made by Georgia’s UN envoy, Alexandre Lomaia, who said on May 27 that UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, had to significantly modify his recent report on Abkhazia as a result of Russia’s “blackmail.”

“The Georgian side should express its negative position over the Georgian diplomat’s statements. There are some forms of doing that – either through change of totally unjustified wording of his statement or possibly through raising the issue of recalling our ambassador,” MP Laliashvili said.

Lawmaker from the ruling party, Akaki Minashvili, who chairs the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs defended Ambassador Lomaia’s remarks by saying that the statement was “timely and adequate.”

“There was a serious threat that Russia might have used blackmail and Geneva process to exert certain influence on the UN Secretary General’s report. Therefore, it was a principled position of the Georgian ambassador and the Georgian state will adhere to that principled position in any diplomatic negotiations,” MP Minashvili said.

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