Almost signed

Consultations on the Caucasus brought only gas

Participants in the two-day international consultations on security and stability in the Caucasus, which ended yesterday at the Geneva Palace of Nations, were one step away from signing the first document. It was called the Border Incident Prevention Mechanism. But it was still not possible to come to an agreement, although the discussions went on without interruption from nine in the morning to three in the afternoon.

The co-chairs of the consultations - the European Union's special representative for Georgia, the Frenchman Pierre Morel, the special representative of the UN Secretary General for the Georgian-Abkhaz settlement and the head of the UN observer mission in Georgia, the Belgian Johan Verbeke, and the special envoy of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, the Finnish Heikki Talvitie - were unable to hold a plenary meeting. Pierre Morel said at a press conference that “the participants in the discussions discussed conflict prevention mechanisms, everyone agreed to participate in them, but it has not yet been possible to reach an agreement.” But he said that the Georgian side had undertaken to resume interrupted gas supplies to the population of South Ossetia.

The head of the Russian delegation, Secretary of State and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin, confirmed that “the sensitivity of the parties is high, the wounds have not yet healed. Therefore, there is no need to resolve all issues in one fell swoop.” Negotiations will now resume on February 17-18, 2009. As EU representative Henri Duquesne told Vremya Novostei, no one expected a breakthrough: the positions of the participants were too divergent. At the same time, according to him, the co-chairs continue to insist on the speedy adoption of decisions regarding the fate of refugees.

The negotiations took place in the previous format of working groups - to ensure security in the region and to resolve the problems of the return of refugees and internally displaced persons. They were conducted in two adjacent halls on the second floor of the Palais des Nations, all passages to which, like the staircases, were blocked by UN security. The delegations left the building along the usual corridor for participants in all closed negotiations, which is blocked off by barriers and security guards. But journalists already did not show much attention to the negotiations. Unlike the November meeting, which brought together many reporters and television channels from various countries, this time a calm atmosphere reigned in the corridors of the Palais des Nations.

In addition to preventing border incidents, the consultation participants also discussed the question of what comes first: the return of refugees or the creation of conditions for their safety? Back in November, the parties agreed that refugees should return to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A few days ago, this issue was discussed in Moscow by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Georgian Patriarch Ilia II. The ex-ambassador of Georgia to Russia, Vazha Lordkipanidze, who accompanied the patriarch, told VN that President Medvedev agreed: exiles have the right to return to their homeland. “The patriarch himself believes that this process should take place after a political settlement,” said the ex-ambassador. “Otherwise, how can we decide who will protect the returnees?” And where should refugees return - to what country, what citizenship to obtain? So we still have to work and work.”

The head of the Abkhaz delegation, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxim Gvindzhia, also believes that “security guarantees are needed for the return of refugees.” Georgia connects these guarantees with the admission to Abkhazia and South Ossetia of observers from the European Union, who have been in “buffer zones” around these republics since October 1. Both republics oppose the appearance of European observers.

Varvara SEMENOVA, Geneva, Mikhail VIGNANSKY, Tbilisi