RFE/RL: Abkhazia Seeks To Continue Cooperation With EU, UN
posted by circassiankama on August, 2009 as Abkhazia
July 30, 2009
Abkhazia Seeks To Continue Cooperation With EU, UN
Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba met separately on July 29 in
Sukhumi with the EU special representative for the South Caucasus,
Ambassador Peter Semneby, and with Johan Verbeke, who headed the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), the mandate of which expired earlier this month.
Semneby
was quoted as recalling that one year ago, the EU planned to appoint a
representative to liaise with the Abkhaz authorities, but that "for
understandable reasons," meaning the August war between Georgia and
Russia over South Ossetia, those plans were not implemented.
Semneby
said the withdrawal of the UN from Abkhazia creates a further obstacle
to EU cooperation with Abkhazia, but that the EU nonetheless still
seeks ways to implement various programs and projects in Abkhazia. He
stressed that although the EU will not abandon its commitment not to
recognize Abkhazia as an independent state, it does not regard Abkhazia
as "either a blank spot or a black hole."
Shamba for his part
argued that the EU should revise its "irrational" approach to Abkhazia,
in particular its refusal to consider establishing diplomatic
relations, and should abandon the perception of Abkhazia as "an axis of
evil" that poses a threat to Europe. "Do you really believe that it is
possible to resurrect the Georgian SSR?" he asked rhetorically. He said
any cooperation between the EU and Abkhazia should be direct, and not
coordinated with the central Georgian government.
Shamba's talks
with Verbeke focused on whether it is possible to find a way to
maintain a UN presence in Abkhazia in a format that would not require a
mandate from the UN Security Council. Shamba had discussed that possibility last month with Verbeke's deputy, Joseph Stefanidis.
Russia
vetoed extending UNOMIG's mandate because it contained a specific
reference to Georgia's territorial integrity. Having recognized
Abkhazia as an independent state, Moscow argues that the old
designation is erroneous and inappropriate.
Shamba referred
specifically to the importance of the recently launched talks on
security issues along the border between Abkhazia and the rest of
Georgia, in which the UN is one of the five participants (along with
the EU, Russia, Georgia, and Abkhazia). Those fortnightly talks take
place at the UN Human Rights Office in Abkhazia's southernmost Gali
Raion, the population of which is predominantly Georgian. Verbeke noted
that the Abkhaz side "got off to not a bad start" in those talks, the second round of which took place on July 28.
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