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13346
Tue, 07/22/2008 - 12:36
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Germany's efforts to settle Abkhazian conflict looking fruitless so By Lyudmila Alexandrova
MOSCOW, July 22 (Itar-Tass) - Conflict between Georgia's centralgovernment and the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which formally still remain parts of the Georgian sovereign territory is sending increasingly more international echoes as more and more third parties get involved in it.
On the face of it, the efforts by Germany's Foreign Minister FrankWalter Steinmeyer to assist the resolution of the conflict around Abkhazia look fruitless so far, not least because the Abkhazian authorities rejected them completely.
Still, experts point out the fact that Moscow, which usually takessuch interferences on the part of the West rather painfully, did not turn them down outright this time. More than that, it described Steinmeyer's plan as 'productive'.
The Kremlin put forward a demand along with it, though, that Georgia pull its troops out of the Kodori Gorge, and experts say this makes the prospects for Steinmeyer's plan unpredictable.
The plan itself, a three-stage document drafted by the so-called Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General for Georgia that embraces the U.S., Britain and France among others, was not published in the media, but it is known that its first phase includes a renunciation of the use of force by the Georgians and Abkhazia's guarantee for a return of about 250,000 ethnic Georgian refugees, who were compelled to flee the region at the peak of the conflict in 1992 and 1993.
Sources at the German Foreign Ministry say the first phase is likely to continue through to the end of next year.
The second stage of the plan envision the commencement of 'jointprojects' - the elimination of material damage caused by hostilities at the beginning of the 1990's and the launching of a process of restoration.
For this, Germany proposes to convene a conference of donor countries.
As for the final talks on Abkhazia's status, they will be held in the last stage only.
Steinmeyer visited Georgia last week. The government in Tbilisisupported the plan in general, albeit with certain reservations.
In the next leg of his tour, Steinmeyer went to Abkhazia where the government fully rejected the proposals, and to Moscow where they weregiven partial support.
Georgia is dissatisfied with a peace treaty with Abkhazia and it has no willingness to withdraw its troops from the Kodori Gorge. President Mikhail Saakashvili's comment on the situation suggested that Georgia finds an agreement on a non-resumption of hostilities senseless, since "we are not going to attack our own citizens." Also, the government in Tbilisi names the return of refugees toAbkhazia a mandatory condition for the beginning of negotiations.
Sergei Bagapsh, the president of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia told Steinmeyer his administration sums up the proposals as unacceptable.
"We can accept Article 1 of the plan and sign an agreement on thenon-use of force after the Georgians withdraw their troops from the Kodori Gorge," he said.
"As regard the clauses on the return of refugees and determination of Abkhazia's political status inside the Georgian state, they are unacceptable for us," Bagapsh said.
Steinmeyer himself passed a rather laconic comment on the results of his trip, saying the positions of the sides stand wide apart from each other.
He warned that the risk of a further escalation of tensions there will continue growing unless the sides are brought to the table of negotiations.
In the meantime, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in the course of his meeting with Steinmeyer in Moscow that Germany has taken a correct conceptual approach to the resolution of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. He especially stressed the fact that the plan begins with a proposal to the sides to begin with the signing of an agreement on the non-use of force.
Lavrov proposed to use the German proposals as the groundwork for a roadmap of Georgian-Abkhazian peace settlement so that the central government in Tbilisi and the Abkhazian authorities could open directtalks on peace settlement as early as possible.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who received Steinmeyer Friday night, believes the only way to settling the conflict lies through awithdrawal of Georgian troops from the upper part of the Kodori Gorge.
"By speaking about the necessity of a withdrawal of Georgian Armedunits from the upper part of the Kodori Gorge, Medvedev put period in the implementation of Steinmeyer's plan for the time being," the Moscow-based Nezavissimaya Gazeta writes.
"The president believes that talks between Sukhumi and Triblisi can begin only after the demilitarization of the gorge, the only part of Abkhazia still staying under Georgia's jurisdiction, and the signing of an agreement on non-resumption of hostilities," it says further, adding that Moscow has taken a milder stance on the German plan than the Abkhazian government.
"Russia has praised the plan of Georgian-Abkhazian settlement proposed by the German Foreign Minister and has praised its fullconceptual correctness," Kommersant daily writes.
"In fact, Moscow has supported Germany's mediating efforts after they were turned down by Abkhazia, and this looks sensational, as Moscow has denied such attempts on the part of the West rather fervently in the past," it says.
Kommersant believes however that in reality "it looks like Moscow has decided to avoid the role of a grave digger, as the plan does not have chances for a success all the same." Moscow's position has an explanation, the newspaper says. First,Moscow was informed about Steinmeyer's mission in advance; second, some of its elements may really satisfy the Russian officials.
"The plans includes the provision for an agreement on the non-use of force, and the rest can be discussed," a Russian diplomat overseeing the relations with Georgia told KommersantThird, Steinmeyer's plan found support in Georgia, even though with noticeable reservations, and now the Georgians might gain new political dividends if Russia rejected the plan as vehemently as the Abkhazians did, the newspaper said.
Last but not least, although Moscow calls the pullout of Georgian troops from the upper Kodori an essential condition, apart from theagreement on the non-use of force, Sergei Lavrov said plainly at the talks with Steinmeyer that this pullout is hardly on the cards over the short term.
That is why the talks on the Steinmeyer plan may get into a deadlock at any moment - through the Georgian government's fault.
Yelena Tevdoradze, Georgia's deputy minister for reintegrationadmitted in an interview with the Russian daily Gazeta that instantaneous solution should hardly be expected in a situation as it is.
The main thing is that Steinmeyer has heard the positions of officials in Tbilisi, Sukhumi and Moscow.
Now these three parties must sit down to the conference table. "This isn't simple to do but there's no alternative to it," Tevdoradze said.
Georgian political scientist Ramaz Sakvarelidze told Gazeta Georgia attaches significance to the very fact that Germany has developed an interest in settling the conflict around Abkhazia.
"Maybe, other European countries will get their own peace plans, too, and then Sukhumi will feel like making compromises," he said.
On the face of it, the efforts by Germany's Foreign Minister FrankWalter Steinmeyer to assist the resolution of the conflict around Abkhazia look fruitless so far, not least because the Abkhazian authorities rejected them completely.
Still, experts point out the fact that Moscow, which usually takessuch interferences on the part of the West rather painfully, did not turn them down outright this time. More than that, it described Steinmeyer's plan as 'productive'.
The Kremlin put forward a demand along with it, though, that Georgia pull its troops out of the Kodori Gorge, and experts say this makes the prospects for Steinmeyer's plan unpredictable.
The plan itself, a three-stage document drafted by the so-called Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General for Georgia that embraces the U.S., Britain and France among others, was not published in the media, but it is known that its first phase includes a renunciation of the use of force by the Georgians and Abkhazia's guarantee for a return of about 250,000 ethnic Georgian refugees, who were compelled to flee the region at the peak of the conflict in 1992 and 1993.
Sources at the German Foreign Ministry say the first phase is likely to continue through to the end of next year.
The second stage of the plan envision the commencement of 'jointprojects' - the elimination of material damage caused by hostilities at the beginning of the 1990's and the launching of a process of restoration.
For this, Germany proposes to convene a conference of donor countries.
As for the final talks on Abkhazia's status, they will be held in the last stage only.
Steinmeyer visited Georgia last week. The government in Tbilisisupported the plan in general, albeit with certain reservations.
In the next leg of his tour, Steinmeyer went to Abkhazia where the government fully rejected the proposals, and to Moscow where they weregiven partial support.
Georgia is dissatisfied with a peace treaty with Abkhazia and it has no willingness to withdraw its troops from the Kodori Gorge. President Mikhail Saakashvili's comment on the situation suggested that Georgia finds an agreement on a non-resumption of hostilities senseless, since "we are not going to attack our own citizens." Also, the government in Tbilisi names the return of refugees toAbkhazia a mandatory condition for the beginning of negotiations.
Sergei Bagapsh, the president of the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia told Steinmeyer his administration sums up the proposals as unacceptable.
"We can accept Article 1 of the plan and sign an agreement on thenon-use of force after the Georgians withdraw their troops from the Kodori Gorge," he said.
"As regard the clauses on the return of refugees and determination of Abkhazia's political status inside the Georgian state, they are unacceptable for us," Bagapsh said.
Steinmeyer himself passed a rather laconic comment on the results of his trip, saying the positions of the sides stand wide apart from each other.
He warned that the risk of a further escalation of tensions there will continue growing unless the sides are brought to the table of negotiations.
In the meantime, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in the course of his meeting with Steinmeyer in Moscow that Germany has taken a correct conceptual approach to the resolution of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. He especially stressed the fact that the plan begins with a proposal to the sides to begin with the signing of an agreement on the non-use of force.
Lavrov proposed to use the German proposals as the groundwork for a roadmap of Georgian-Abkhazian peace settlement so that the central government in Tbilisi and the Abkhazian authorities could open directtalks on peace settlement as early as possible.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who received Steinmeyer Friday night, believes the only way to settling the conflict lies through awithdrawal of Georgian troops from the upper part of the Kodori Gorge.
"By speaking about the necessity of a withdrawal of Georgian Armedunits from the upper part of the Kodori Gorge, Medvedev put period in the implementation of Steinmeyer's plan for the time being," the Moscow-based Nezavissimaya Gazeta writes.
"The president believes that talks between Sukhumi and Triblisi can begin only after the demilitarization of the gorge, the only part of Abkhazia still staying under Georgia's jurisdiction, and the signing of an agreement on non-resumption of hostilities," it says further, adding that Moscow has taken a milder stance on the German plan than the Abkhazian government.
"Russia has praised the plan of Georgian-Abkhazian settlement proposed by the German Foreign Minister and has praised its fullconceptual correctness," Kommersant daily writes.
"In fact, Moscow has supported Germany's mediating efforts after they were turned down by Abkhazia, and this looks sensational, as Moscow has denied such attempts on the part of the West rather fervently in the past," it says.
Kommersant believes however that in reality "it looks like Moscow has decided to avoid the role of a grave digger, as the plan does not have chances for a success all the same." Moscow's position has an explanation, the newspaper says. First,Moscow was informed about Steinmeyer's mission in advance; second, some of its elements may really satisfy the Russian officials.
"The plans includes the provision for an agreement on the non-use of force, and the rest can be discussed," a Russian diplomat overseeing the relations with Georgia told KommersantThird, Steinmeyer's plan found support in Georgia, even though with noticeable reservations, and now the Georgians might gain new political dividends if Russia rejected the plan as vehemently as the Abkhazians did, the newspaper said.
Last but not least, although Moscow calls the pullout of Georgian troops from the upper Kodori an essential condition, apart from theagreement on the non-use of force, Sergei Lavrov said plainly at the talks with Steinmeyer that this pullout is hardly on the cards over the short term.
That is why the talks on the Steinmeyer plan may get into a deadlock at any moment - through the Georgian government's fault.
Yelena Tevdoradze, Georgia's deputy minister for reintegrationadmitted in an interview with the Russian daily Gazeta that instantaneous solution should hardly be expected in a situation as it is.
The main thing is that Steinmeyer has heard the positions of officials in Tbilisi, Sukhumi and Moscow.
Now these three parties must sit down to the conference table. "This isn't simple to do but there's no alternative to it," Tevdoradze said.
Georgian political scientist Ramaz Sakvarelidze told Gazeta Georgia attaches significance to the very fact that Germany has developed an interest in settling the conflict around Abkhazia.
"Maybe, other European countries will get their own peace plans, too, and then Sukhumi will feel like making compromises," he said.
