Translated material
The tiger will jump in August
South Ossetia is preparing for an imminent war with Georgia
Yesterday, South Ossetia announced the need for an emergency meeting of the co-chairs of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) due to the deteriorating situation around the unrecognized republic. “We sent appropriate appeals with a proposal to hold such negotiations in Tskhinvali on June 2,” First Deputy Chairman of the South Ossetian government Boris Chochiev told Vremya Novostei. “Moscow and Vladikavkaz agreed, Tbilisi is still silent.”But Tbilisi was not silent. As soon as reports appeared that an agreement had allegedly been reached to gather in Tskhinvali on June 2, the Georgian authorities issued a refutation of this information. The Georgian co-chairman of the JCC, State Minister for Conflict Resolution Georgiy Khaindrava told Vremya Novostey that “no one has agreed on anything with him, and therefore there can be no meeting.” He confirmed that the situation around the unrecognized republic is heating up, but shifted the blame for this escalation onto Russian peacekeepers.
Tbilisi strongly opposed the rotation of peacekeepers through the Roki tunnel, which is not controlled by Georgia, connecting South Ossetia with North Ossetia. A few days ago, Mr. Khaindrava sent letters to the Russian Ambassador and the command of the “blue helmets” with a demand to replace military personnel through the Upper Lars checkpoint - there the Georgian side is able to control the progress of the rotation. However, this proposal remained unanswered. “For the peacekeepers to carry out a rotation through the Roki tunnel contrary to our position is a forceful provocation,” said Georgy Khaindrava.
A heap of mutual reproaches over South Ossetia is growing between Moscow and Tbilisi like a snowball. The Russian Foreign Ministry said yesterday that Georgian special forces illegally appeared in the conflict zone on May 27. And this can be regarded as “a provocative action aimed at destabilizing the situation and undermining efforts for its peaceful resolution.” Mr. Khaindrava called the information about the introduction of special forces “a lie,” explaining that in this case the special forces had to overcome at least three checkpoints of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces (JPKF). “And in general, it is not clear why a statement about what allegedly happened on May 27 is made on May 30?” - said the Minister of State.
However, according to the commander of the JPKF, Major General Marat Kulakhmetov, the Georgian commandos actually passed by the checkpoints. According to him, “about 60 special forces blocked the post of Russian peacekeepers, the blockade lasted a short time, after which they retreated.” The Russian general considers such actions a “blatant disgrace.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry spoke about the “disgrace” in diplomatic language. On Smolensk Square they said that in South Ossetia “a situation of positional confrontation arose, in which military personnel of both sides were in direct contact with weapons in their hands.” In this situation, “an armed confrontation could at any moment lead to new bloodshed” and “only the restraint shown by Russian peacekeepers made it possible to prevent the development of events according to this scenario.” The Russian Foreign Ministry warned that “all responsibility for the consequences of such excesses falls on the Georgian side.”
Tskhinvali claims that a “war party” has raised its head in Tbilisi, insisting on a forceful solution to the problem of South Ossetia. On Tuesday, the Tbilisi newspaper Alia reported that the Ossetian leadership allegedly revealed the plan of the Georgian authorities for the lightning capture of Tskhinvali, codenamed “Tiger Leap”. The publication reports that the culmination of this plan is in August. Commenting on this information, Vremya Novostey's sources in Tskhinvali drew attention to Georgia's plans to station a motorized rifle brigade in Gori, 30 km from the conflict zone. Moreover, a military hospital has already been transferred to this city from Tbilisi.
The appearance of special forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia in Tskhinvali in the unrecognized republic is considered part of a chain of provocations, which, according to Boris Chochiev, will be followed by “large-scale destabilization.” Back on May 27, Georgian police arrested 48 Ossetians, including two residents of North Ossetia. Later, the detainees reported beatings by law enforcement officers. These statements were confirmed by Georgy Khaindrava and Georgian Ombudsman Sozar Subari, who visited the region. The Ossetians responded by beating several Georgians.
Ivlian Khaindrava, a member of the Georgian parliament from the opposition Republican Party, told Vremya Novostey that “it is necessary to hear clarifications from the authorities” regarding the beating incident. Regarding the information about Georgia’s preparation of a military action against the unrecognized South Ossetia, the parliamentarian noted that judging by the statements of Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili, who promised to celebrate 2007 in Tskhinvali, “maybe there are such sentiments.” However, the newspaper’s interlocutor doubts the possibility of official Tbilisi starting military action: “the Georgian leadership has already received fairly transparent messages from allies and partners abroad that it is unacceptable to solve the problem by force.”
In addition to the meeting within the framework of the JCC, South Ossetia proposed holding a summit of the highest political leaders of the parties with the participation of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. On Monday and Tuesday, the Ambassadors of Norway, Germany, Liechtenstein and Spain to the OSCE visited Tbilisi and Tskhinvali. “We told the ambassadors about this proposal of ours,” Boris Chochiev told Vremya Novostey. “The diplomats agreed that the parties should sign a memorandum or statement on the non-use of force.”