Russia, Abkhazia to launch joint border control from May.

GAL /Abkhazia/, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russian border guards, aside
from protecting Abkhazia's state border, are launching joint border
control with Abkhazian colleages from May, spokesman for the FSB border
department in Abkhazia Vasily Malayev told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
The relevant agreement was recently signed in Moscow, he said.
Malayev explained that "state-of-the-art equipment has been installed
at border checkpoints, to enable the borderguards to expose the holders of
forged documents or people trying to hide something from inspection. In
the first place, this will help combat the criminal groups engaging in
contraband."
The spokesman underlined that if the criminals who will start losing
money due to tougher border control try to cross the border with arms in
their hands, "the border guards are ready to rebuff them."
On Wednesday, Vladislav Vasin, head of the border guard commandant's
office in the town of Gal, FSB border department in Abkhazia, said
Georgian intelligence had been trying to disclose the systems of
protection on the Gala stretch of the Georgian-Abkhazian border which is
protected by Russia.
"Reconnaissance is underway. They make attempt to disclose the systems
of protection of the state border on the stretch, but there have been no
direct conflicts.
"We have not detained groups of saboteurs from Georgia, but we have to
take into account these options and be always ready for such incidents,"
Vasin said.
Commenting on the situation in the Gala district that border on
Georgia, Vasin said the criminal situation was rather complicated.
"They try to smuggle large batches of contraband through the border.
Russian border guards have repeatedly thwarted such attempts," he said.
Russian servicemen have been engaging in outreach to local residents
over border crossing issues.
"Local residents sometimes violate the border regime, due to many
attempts to cross it for everyday needs. People also cross it because they
have kin in the adjacent territory, and also with the view of smuggling.
Border protection is effected in close cooperation with Abkhazian police
and secret service. On the whole, the situation on the Gala stretch is
stabilizing," the border service official noted.
Answering an Itar-Tass question if Russian border guards have the
right to open fire on border violators, Vasin said "we're guided by the
law on state border, which sets the procedure for the use of weapons. That
is, they will do everything necessary in full measure to intercept illegal
actions."


.Lavrov to present Moscow's new security architecture vision at PACE.

STRASBOURG, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov will take part in the Thursday session of the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe as special guest. He arrived in
Strasbourg on Wednesday evening from Copenhagen, where he had accompanied
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on his state visit to Denmark.
Lavrov's trip to the PACE session is taking place ahead of the 65th
anniversary of the victory in World War II. His report will be devoted to
issues of Europe's post-war history. Addressing the 47-nation Assembly,
Lavrov will draw its attention to the upcoming jubilee, empathizing the
decisive role of the USSR in defeating Nazism.
The Russian diplomat will call for resisting the falsification of
history and remind about the significance of the Council of Europe in
overcoming the consequences of the "Cold War" and the dividing lines it
had generated.
Lavrov will use his speech at the PACE to present to the European
audience the Russian approaches to the most acute issues of intentional
politics, in the first place the shaping of the new architecture of
security, including the problem of the security treaty in Euroatlantic
space.
The Russian Foreign Ministry appreciates the role of the Council of
Europe in modern conditions, regarding this organization as "one of the
key agencies in Euroatlantic space, a crucial instrument in building a
common legal space of Greater Europe."
Yet, Russia insists on the Council of Europe's "adapting to the new
reality of the modern world by achieving greater unity between its
members, for the sake of protecting and realizing the ideals and
principles that belong to their common heritage, and contributing to their
economic and social progress," Russian diplomats said.
In this context, Russia defends the line toward preserving the
diversity in the Council of Europe's activities.
The future Council of Europe, as seen by Russia, is not in narrowing
its mandate, but in increasing the effectiveness of its activities and
developing cooperation between states under the CE aegis in all the fields
of its competence. Also, the restructuring should not harm the ongoing
efforts in a broad range of themes, including social issues, the struggle
against new challenges and threats and development of culture and
education.
Lavrov is due to meet with Assembly Chairman Mevlut Cavusoglu and
Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjorn Jagland.
-0-myz