Overcoming the resistance of the Russian military

The implementation of agreements between Russia and the European Union on Georgia turned out to be seriously difficult. The EU observer mission, deployed yesterday along the borders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in accordance with the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan, ran into problems in the face of the Russian military. The parties still disagree on whether observers should be stationed on the territory of the two republics. According to Kommersant's information, the implementation of another key point of the peace plan was in jeopardy - holding a meeting in Geneva on the situation in the Caucasus.

On the occasion of the start of the EU observer mission in Georgia, the deployment of which became one of the key points of agreements between the EU and the Russian Federation, EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Policy Javier Solana arrived in Tbilisi on Tuesday. Together with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, he announced the first success of the mission. “This is the fastest deployment of forces that the EU has ever carried out,” Mr. Solana said. He recalled that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised to withdraw Russian troops from Georgia within ten days after the deployment of EU observers - thus, this deadline expires on October 10.

However, the first day of the observers’ work was not without incidents caused by the Russian military. Yesterday morning, the first batch of 20 observers, accompanied by journalists, left Gori and headed towards the Georgian village of Karaleti, which is located 4 km from the administrative border of South Ossetia. A Russian checkpoint was set up at the entrance to the village, the commander of which at first refused to allow observers into their area of responsibility and only after long telephone conversations with his superiors changed his mind.

As Shota Utiashvili, head of the information and analytical department of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, told Kommersant, many monitoring groups were never allowed into the buffer zones by the Russian military. Kommersant's interlocutors at the Russian Foreign Ministry explained the problems of European observers as “technical difficulties.” “Now there is a process of technical development of mechanisms of interaction between our peacekeepers and Europeans, and this requires time and certain efforts,” Igor Lyakin-Frolov, deputy head of the information and press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, explained to Kommersant.

However, the contradictions between Moscow and Brussels regarding the EU observation mission are not limited to technical issues. Speaking in Tbilisi, Javier Solana said that EU observers will be stationed throughout Georgia in the future. Thus, he made it clear that Brussels expects to send monitoring missions to Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Mikheil Saakashvili was even more determined: according to him, French President Nicolas Sarkozy personally promised him to send observers to the conflict zones and even sealed this promise with his signature (see Kommersant of September 10).

Moscow interprets the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreements differently. “Observers from the EU will indeed be stationed throughout Georgia. Of course, minus Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are independent states,” Igor Lyakin-Frolov told Kommersant.

Other important points of the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreements signed on September 8 are also becoming the subject of disagreement. First of all, this concerns the organization of discussions on ensuring security in the region, which are scheduled to begin in Geneva on October 15. A high-ranking Kommersant source in the Russian Foreign Ministry, who oversees the Georgian direction, said that “substantive discussions with Europeans on this topic will begin on October 2.” Kommersant's interlocutor in the Georgian leadership said that the meeting will take place no earlier than October 19 and only at the expert level.

Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba, in a conversation with Kommersant, explained the reasons for the delay as follows: “The Russians set strict conditions that negotiations would only take place with the participation of representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.” Meanwhile, according to Kommersant information from sources in Western diplomatic circles, the participation of Sukhumi and Tskhinvali as independent states is categorically unacceptable for Brussels.

Alexander Kommersant-Gabuev; Georgy Kommersant-Dvali, Tbilisi

EU observers infiltrated the buffer zone