Translated material
The UN does not like the Georgian camp
Patriotic youth are raised in a conflict zone
Unexpected disagreements arose between the UN and Georgia on the issues of patriotic education of the younger generation. In the report of Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released yesterday to the UN Security Council on the situation in the zone of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, it is proposed to abolish the youth patriotic camp set up in close proximity to the border of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia in the village of Ganmukhuri, Zugdidi region.This camp was opened on May 26, Georgian Independence Day, by President Mikheil Saakashvili personally. This week he was visited by the Chairman of Parliament Nino Burjanadze. Such camps appeared in Georgia in 2005. The camp in Ganmukhuri is home to 500 boys and girls aged 15 to 22 years. The speaker expressed hope for the quick return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Georgia, emphasizing that these problems should be “solved by our generation.”
In Sukhumi, from the moment the camp opened, they said that “this is a provocative step aimed at destabilizing the situation.” Tbilisi ignored these protests, but criticism from international structures came as an unpleasant surprise. The chairman of the parliamentary committee on external relations, Konstantin Gabashvili, told reporters that the mention of the camp in Ganmukhuri could have ended up in the report of the UN Secretary General at the instigation of Russia. The head of the parliamentary commission for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia, Shota Malashkhia, told Vremya Novostey that there are no plans to close the camp: “There is an excessive stir, if you read the report carefully, it says that there were no excesses around the camp, and Ban Ki-moon is simply afraid of what “possible incidents”. According to VN sources in the Georgian government, in August it is planned to open a similar camp in Kodori, the only region of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia.
The commander of the Russian peacekeepers (CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces) in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone, Sergei Chaban, told VN that “the camp in Ganmukhuri is located in the security zone, a kilometer from the line of separation of the parties. This territory does not provide for the opening of such camps.” To increase security measures, the command of the peacekeepers decided to open an additional post near Ganmukhuri, which is manned around the clock, reported Sergei Chaban. He noted that the camp itself is guarded by Georgian police.
The speech about the patriotic camp in the report of the UN Secretary General came in the context of the lack of progress in the Georgian-Abkhaz negotiation process. A year ago, after the entry of Georgian forces into Kodori, Abkhazia suspended its participation in the negotiations. “Despite hopes, the dialogue has not resumed,” states Ban Ki-moon. “Distrust and suspicion remain between the parties, and the situation may escalate.”