Translated material
Astana constant
Kazakhstan has territorially reassured Georgia
Yesterday, Georgia had new hopes for resolving relations with the Abkhazians and Ossetians with the support of international organizations. The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Kanat Saudabayev (pictured), after negotiations in Tbilisi with his Georgian counterpart Grigory Vashadze, said: “For Astana, recognition of the territorial integrity of Georgia is the constant on which we stand and will stand.” In 2010, Kazakhstan chairs the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).“Kazakhstan is close to the problems of the post-Soviet space, it has a better understanding of what is happening there,” First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Alexander Nalbandov told Vremya Novostey. - We found complete mutual understanding during the negotiations. Now it’s a matter of time what it will be possible to implement, in what specific forms.”
According to VN, Tbilisi is counting on the personal experience of the special representative of the current OSCE Chairman, experienced diplomat Bolat Nurgaliev. The former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, ex-Secretary General of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was already present at the Geneva discussions on security in the Caucasus, held after the armed conflict around South Ossetia the year before last. Their next round will take place at the end of March, and this is the only negotiating platform now where Georgia, through the mediation of the OSCE, UN, USA and the European Union, communicates with Russia, as well as with the delegations of Sukhumi and Tskhinvali. It is expected that the 10th round of consultations in March will be decisive for the future of this format of negotiations, which Abkhazians and Ossetians are dissatisfied with.
In addition, a representative of Astana will be involved in preventing incidents in South Ossetia. This group was created under the auspices of the Geneva process. “We felt Kazakhstan’s spirit to make a positive contribution, there is a willingness to work actively,” said Alexander Nalbandov.
According to Grigory Vashadze, Kazakhstan is interested in resuming the work of the OSCE mission in Georgia. After recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Russia did not support the continuation of the work of the OSCE and UN missions in Georgia, believing that separate representative offices of international organizations should appear in the new republics. Tbilisi opposed this. Alexander Nalbandov explained to VN that it is “very difficult” to resolve the issue of restoring the OSCE mission in Georgia, but for Tbilisi the topic of monitoring in Abkhazia and South Ossetia is a “priority”, since these territories “are outside international control.”
The local opposition also counts on the contribution of Kazakhstan and the OSCE to Georgian affairs, but for them the issue of democratic reforms comes first. The OSCE does not normally send observers to local elections, but Mr Saudabayev has promised to make an exception for Georgia. The degree of internal political confrontation ahead of the May local elections, including the first direct elections for the mayor of Tbilisi, is very high. The opposition speaks in advance about impending falsifications.
“There is no democracy in Georgia, all the principles that are fundamental to this organization are violated,” said Nino Burjanadze, ex-speaker of the Georgian parliament, now leader of the opposition “Democratic Movement - United Georgia”, after a meeting with the current OSCE chairman. She also pointed out the negative role of the authorities in resolving conflicts: “What happened in August 2008 thanks to our President Mikheil Saakashvili postponed the solution to the problem for many years.”