Translated material
Helmets bald
Georgia is preparing to expel Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia
In the next few days, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili will announce a decision on the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia, the authoritative Tbilisi newspaper Resonance reported yesterday. The Blue Helmets are deployed in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict in a strip of 12 kilometers in each direction from the Inguri River on the administrative border; they have been there since 1994 under the mandate of the CIS and with the support of the UN. However, in 2003, the then leaders of Russia and Georgia, Vladimir Putin and Eduard Shevardnadze, reached a gentlemen's agreement that a demand from Tbilisi or Sukhumi would be enough for the peacekeepers to end the mission. Yesterday, in a telephone conversation with the President of Georgia, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called provocations against Russian peacekeepers unacceptable. Mikheil Saakashvili promised to sort it out.If Georgia officially demands the withdrawal of peacekeepers, then the “blue helmets” will be in the country illegally from now on, Shota Malashkhia, chairman of the parliamentary commission on restoring territorial integrity, explained to Vremya Novostey. In mid-October, the situation in Abkhazia will be reviewed by the UN Security Council as planned. If he does not support Georgia’s desire to change the format of the peacekeeping operation, then, according to the deputy, Tbilisi will question the continuation of the activities of observers from this organization.
Yesterday, the UN Secretary General's special representative for Abkhazia, Jean Arnault, held talks in Moscow with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, “the current situation in the settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict was discussed,” “the need to de-escalate tension in the region and restore trust between the conflicting parties was emphasized.” In connection with information about a possible escalation caused by the concentration of Georgian forces in the Abkhaz direction, in May Russia increased the number of peacekeepers by a thousand people. Now there are 2.5 thousand of them in the conflict zone, with three allowed.
In response, the Georgian Foreign Ministry stated that it considers the “provocative actions of the Russian Federation” to be the main source of tension in Abkhazia. Tbilisi believes that “the international community views Russia as a party to the conflict and clearly supports the peaceful initiatives of the Georgian President and balanced political positions and actions on the part of Georgia.” Russian peacekeepers in Tbilisi are considered accomplices of the rebel Abkhazians, who are building independence behind the bayonets of the “blue helmets.”
The Georgian side is happy to turn any “illegal action” by the peacekeepers into a propaganda show. Yesterday at dawn, the police of Western Georgia, after a nine-hour interrogation, handed over to the command four peacekeepers who were detained for transporting allegedly unauthorized cargo of guided missiles and anti-tank mines (initially it was reported that 14 were detained, but then the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs clarified the information). The cargo, detained on the basis of “operational information,” was confiscated by Georgia. Russia demands his return. “Peacekeepers can have any weapons and ammunition, especially regular ones, that they need to carry out tasks to prevent the resumption of armed conflict in the region,” said Colonel Igor Konashenkov, assistant commander-in-chief of the Russian Ground Forces. As Vremya Novostei was told at the peacekeepers' headquarters, we are talking about 20 missiles from an anti-tank platoon of a motorized rifle battalion of the peacekeeping forces, which is stationed in the Zugdidi region.
The peacekeepers were heading from Abkhazia through Enguri to their other base in the village of Urta, Zugdidi region. Georgian television companies showed footage of the detention and disarmament of the peacekeepers, and then the return of their service weapons. Igor Konashenkov stated that unknown persons took part in the detention: “At about 18.30 on June 17, two cars with civilian license plates blocked a car of Russian peacekeepers transporting military equipment. For 20 minutes, Russian peacekeepers were held at gunpoint by unknown persons in civilian clothes, after which police representatives and a film crew from one of the Georgian TV channels arrived at the scene of the incident. After this, the Russian military personnel were disarmed in a gangster manner and taken to the police station.” According to him, Russian peacekeepers strictly followed the command’s order not to succumb to provocation in order to prevent an escalation of the incident.
The Russian Foreign Ministry recently warned Georgia that the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia would aggravate the situation and lead to conflict in the Caucasus. A similar point of view is shared in Sukhumi. The plenipotentiary representative of the President of Abkhazia in the Gali region, Ruslan Kishmaria, said that Georgia had interrupted the moratorium on “aerial spy” flights, introduced after criticism of the UN Security Council on May 30: “A week ago, a flight of two unmanned reconnaissance aircraft launched from the territory of Georgia was recorded. These planes were flying over a security zone controlled by peacekeeping forces.” The planes did not fly into Abkhazia, so the air defense of the unrecognized republic did not shoot them down. Georgia categorically denied information about new drone flights.
At the same time, some experts in Tbilisi say that there is no need to get excited about the withdrawal of peacekeepers. In an interview with Vremya Novostey, the head of the Caucasus Center for Strategic Studies, Mamuka Areshidze, said that Georgia’s decision must be calculated to avoid risks, since “the Abkhazians will not agree with it, the peacekeepers will not leave the conflict zone, and this could further complicate the situation. But even if the peacekeepers come out, this does not mean that the situation will not escalate.” Abkhazia has long stated that it is ready to move its troops to Enguri in the event of the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers.