Dear Georgian friends, dear colleagues,

the armed conflict between Georgia and Russia of August 2008 is generally interpreted as a hard failure of the involved parties to settle the “frozen” conflict over Abkhazia and South-Ossetia by peaceful means. Now, the international public opinion is trying to appoint those responsible for the escalation of the conflict. Do we really have the chance to find the originators of the sad events in last August? I think, if anybody had any doubts during or shortly after the conflict, by now there have appeared a couple of facts, which reveal us the pure intentions of the involved parties, already not covered by the beneficiant curtain of the diplomatic language.

Lets have a look at the facts: on August 12, Russian President Medvedev said he had ordered an end to military operations “the operation has achieved its goal, security for peacekeepers and civilians has been restored.” Subsequently the thanks to the mediation by EU chairman, Nicolas Sarkozy, the parties finally reached a preliminary ceasefire agreement on August 12, signed by Georgia and Russia on August 15 in Tbilisi and on August 16 in Moscow. Mr. Kokoity and Mr. Bagapsh joined agreement some days later. Except of the fact, that the hostilities did not immediately stop - the Russian forces still advanced -, the international opinion, among them the EU, followed with worries, that the idea of the return of the refugees to their homes - as the EU-chairman suggested -  was explicitly refused by the Russian side.

The fifth point of the signed cease-fire agreement however gave hope for those who still beleived in the so much time declared Russian intention to respect Georgia’s territorial integrity. The fifth point says: “The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must withdraw to the line where they were stationed prior to the beginning of hostilities.” Now, in February 2009 we see, this commitment of the Russian side is utterly neglected, and there are no signs of the will to fulfill this particular obligation, since On 17 September 2008 Russia signed with Tskhinvali and Sukhumi cooperation agreements that provide for the establishment of Russian military bases in both regions and authorize Russian troops to patrol their respective borders with Georgia. Russia plans to establish a Black Sea naval base in Abkhazia and intends to restore the former Soviet airbase in Bombora, Abkhazia. The deployment of Russian naval, air, and land power, including some 3,700 troops in Abkhazia would pose new security threats to Georgia’s sovereignty, and would be a clear breach of the cease-fire agreement. Pre-existing international agreements allow Russia to deploy a peacekeeping battalion of around 500 troops in South Ossetia and about 2,500 Russians in three peacekeeping battalions and one airborne battalion in Abkhazia.

If I speak about the peace-keepers, I can not leave without word the future of the unarmed OSCE peace-keepers, earlier completing their mission  in South-Ossetia and compelled to be withdrawn from the area during the armed conflict. Russia says the OSCE monitors should remain outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and it had already blocked extension of OSCE mission’s mandate, when Mr Lavrov stated: ” it is now up to “independent and sovereign” South Ossetia to decide whether to let the OSCE monitors redeploy… no longer will issues concerning South Ossetia be discussed at the OSCE in the absence of Tskhinvali’s representatives” . Russia wants to block the continuation of a successful international peace keeping by referring to a subject which is not recognized by the international community, except of Russia and Nicaragua.

It is more than probable that Russia will try to prevent the extension of UN observers’ presence in Georgia as well, and push for having separate  UN Mission, not linked with the UNOMIG.

This problems have been followed by the representatives of the EU during the Geneva-talks. Now, after the third round of the talks, it seems, however, that these talks can go on only in operational level, in the level of incident prevention and management to ensure minimum security standards for the everyday life of the population in the living in the concerned areas. Off course this is very important step forward that gives us hope for further improvement, post-war settlement. Paralelly to our disappointment, that Russia does not want to lead negotiations on the substance of  problems - territorial integrity of Georgia, peace-keeping missions -  we welcome the fact, that finally all sides recognized the necessity of allowing to return of displaced people in conditions of security and dignity.

As far as the humanitarian consequences of the conflict are concerned, there are more then thirty thousand refugees and IDPs after the war, who significantly increased the number of the IDP-mass from the beginning of ninetees, and - similarly to them - they have no perspective to return to their homes in short time.

The situation that occured during and after the armed conflict in last August could be   described as “a humanitarian disaster”, since more than a half of the population fled in South Ossetia, a lots of people were forced to leave their homes in the Russian-controlled “buffer-zone”, the region of Gori and finally the Kodori Gorge-valley.

After the visit of Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Thomas Hammarberg in the region last November and subsequently to the CoE’s report on the IDPs in Georgia, we have a rather sharp picture about the situation in this regard.

By the beginning of the winter almost onehundred-thousand people have returned to their homes, this is approximately eighty-five percent of the total number of the IDP affected by the August-conflict. The main problem of the IDP who have no possibility to return is that they are compelled to live in conditions that hardly can be compatible with the human dignity. We are aware, the war is phenomenon that is accompanied with a “necessary” amount of suffer, but we have to be aware of the fact, the displaced civilian population is the most vulnerable part of the society affected by war, and for this reason they need special treatment. No functioning heating system in the Tbilisi centre for IDPs, potentially dangerous environment for the physical safety of the war victims, lack of baby food, lacking hygiene facilities and lacking grant of IDP-status in order to ensure to basic civic and material conditions for surviving are the things, that should have primary significance for the Georgian government which has received a substantial international assistance to ensure better conditions for them.  The government’s Action Plan for the IDPs should be implemented as soon as possible in order its commitment to find a durable solution for the IDPs by 2011, both the 37 500 IDPs from 2008 and the mass of 223 000 IDP from the beginning of the nineties. On the other hand we must remark, the efforts of the government to provide at least a part of the IDPs with new homes in the Gori-region - four thousand cottages are being built and more than one-thousand-five-hundred homes are repaired - are steps which can ease the suffering of the victims.

Certain part of the current IDP tried to return to their homes, but they were forced to leave again with direct or indirect means. Such reports are being received from the regions of Perevi and Akhalgori. Those who remained in spite of the unstable security circumstances would - off course - welcome Georgian police and EUMM presence parallel to the South-Ossetian Militia stationing. We all know, at the current stage of talks it is hardly possible, but the safeguarding of the citizens personal safety is worth of compromises and in the course of the further negotiations this should be a priority.

]]> http://www.dukazolyomi.sk/en/index.php/my-contribution-to-the-meeting-of-the-eu-georgia-pcc/feed/ http://www.dukazolyomi.sk/en/index.php/this-week-in-the-european-union-3/ http://www.dukazolyomi.sk/en/index.php/this-week-in-the-european-union-3/#comments Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:07:37 +0000 norbi http://www.dukazolyomi.sk/en/?p=862 EUobserver.com

EU relations with Russia are set to take up much of the discussion between European foreign ministers meeting on Monday and Tuesday. At the EU General Affairs and External Relations Council, they will discuss preparations for the EU-Russia summit to be held in Nice at the end of the week.

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Outcome of EU summit: financial crisis, food prices, climate/energy, immigration, Lisbon Treaty
MEPs will hold a debate on Tuesday 21 October with French President and Council President-in-Office Nicolas Sarkozy on the outcome of the EU summit of 15-16 October in Brussels, where the European Union’s leaders are due to discuss the world financial situation, energy and climate issues, immigration and asylum, food and petrol prices and the next steps on the Lisbon Treaty. The House will vote on a resolution on Wednesday.

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On yesterday’s plenary session of the European Parliament in Brussels the Members of the European Parliament (MEP) of the Slovak ruling coalition unanimously raised their voices against the expected, but undone criticism from the MEPs representing the Party of Hungarian Coalition in Slovakia (SMK-MKP). We hoped that at least one of them would distance oneself from discriminatory practices of the Minister of Education or at least from the statements of the Chairman of the Slovak National Party (SNS), which spread hatred. Unfortunately, this did not happen. In contrary, they have taken intolerant acts, which have been on the agenda of the Slovak political scene for a longer period now, even to the EP grounds. Accusing us of provocation and trigger tension in the Slovak media about our alleged speeches during the Plenary in advance, without us even saying a word, was for other MEPs at least strange, if not embarrassing. Just a short time ago we were glad to see the Slovak colleagues raising their voices in the interest of the Slovak minority in Pilisszentkereszt, Hungary. But somehow they forgot that they had helped the self-government of the Slovak minority in Hungary.

 Threatening MEPs with the expression of autonomy speaks about a deep lack of knowledge about the real situation in Europe. Talking about self-governance is neither felonious nor prohibited. What’s more, some of the Member States have different forms of efficiently working autonomy on their territory which do not impair the neither the integrity nor the sovereignty of the state. Criticising the participation of MEPs from SMK-MKP on the Forum of Deputies of the Carpathian Basin is a demonstration of lack of knowledge as there are similar forums also in Romania, Italy and so on. Instead, such forums should be used for deepening the cooperation between nations. To achieve this, it would be necessary that some of the Slovak colleagues would not mislead the domestic media with lies and half-truths. By listening to the allegations from one of our colleagues on hypothetically existing efforts about the renewal of the former “Great Hungary” might evoke in the united Europe at the most just a smile.

If the MEPs representing the Slovak ruling coalition could eliminate the prejudices against the Hungarian minority living in Slovakia, they could avoid further blundering, unlike they did by their yesterday’s speeches in the Plenary.

The European Parliament is to give broad political backing for EU states to next week partly suspend Belarus sanctions. The Vienna-based pan-European security club, the OSCE, lent its support to the move in Minsk on Tuesday.

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This week will start with a meeting of the EU’s economy and finance ministers (ECOFIN) in Luxembourg on the need for a European response to the international financial crisis, just a day after the bloc’s four biggest states - Germany, France, Britain and Italy – hold emergency talks on the subject in Paris.

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Belarus opposition leaders urged the EU not to recognise the results of six-day parliamentary elections which ended on Sunday (28 September), in which allies of President Alexander Lukashenko, seen as Europe’s last dictator, claimed all the seats in the 110-strong parliament.

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The European Parliament yesterday (17 September) launched its own online TV channel, EuroparlTV, in an attempt to reverse widespread political disenchantment among citizens ahead of the European elections.

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A group of MEPs from across the political spectrum have launched a campaign calling on EU governments to list Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shia militant group, as a terrorist organisation.

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Committee meetings and political groups week - Brussels

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