PRESS BRIEFING ON SITUATION IN GEORGIA

Press Briefing

PRESS BRIEFING ON SITUATION IN GEORGIA

The security situation in the Georgia conflict zone had been improving since the beginning of the year and there had been no major violations of the 1994 ceasefire and separation of forces agreement, Liviu Bota, Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Georgia, said at a Headquarters press briefing this morning.

He said the marked improvement in the security situation along both sides of the ceasefire line, and the continuing close cooperation between the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) and the peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), had created a more secure environment for UNOMIG in the Zugdidi and Gali sectors.

Mr. Bota, who was briefing correspondents on the situation on the ground in Georgia, said that together with road repair projects the more secure atmosphere had allowed UNOMIG to increase the territory covered by its ground patrols, while operating still within the concept of limited patrolling.

Of most immediate concern, he said, was a 9 July incident in which a bomb exploded very near the UNOMIG headquarters compound in Sukhumi. The incident was immediately reported and formally protested to the Abkhaz authorities, and further investigations were under way, he said. He noted that almost simultaneously, two other explosions occurred in the centre of Sukhumi. He added that there had been no serious incident there in which UNOMIG had been targeted since the 21 September 1998 ambush.

Mr. Bota said a permanent and ongoing peace process mechanism, under United Nations aegis, was firmly in place following the May 1997 initiative of the Secretary-General. The mechanism included a coordinating council with three issue-focused working groups which convened at least once every two months. Fostering frequent and active direct bilateral contacts between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides was another critical element of the peace process.

There was close cooperation with the Russian Federation in its capacity as facilitator without which the process could not succeed, he said. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) also participated in the process, supporting United Nations efforts. He said the OSCE, and other multilateral bodies, including the Council of Europe, had a particularly critical role to play in ensuring progress in the peace process. A Group of Friends of the Secretary-General -- France, Germany, Russian Federation, United Kingdom and the United States -- also continued to play an active role. He encouraged them to continue putting forward proposals for the consideration of the two parties.

Mr. Bota said it was imperative that the Georgian and Abkhaz sides realized that the status quo was unacceptable for the international community. They were expected to demonstrate the necessary political will to take the first major step forward in the peace process by signing an agreement on the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to the Gali district, in its old borders, and measures for the economic rehabilitation of Abkhazia, Georgia.

It was the Mission's strategy to maintain and increase contacts between the two sides at all levels and through active good offices and logistical facilitation. "It is a success. Already they telephone and call each other at their own initiative", he observed. Furthermore, he reminded the two sides that the ultimate goal of the peace process was the comprehensive political settlement of the conflict. It was planned to elaborate specific proposals for the "distribution of competences" in six areas of governance in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict based on a study commissioned by the mission from Prof. Thomas Fleiner of the Institute of Federalism in Fribourg, Switzerland.

Confidence-building measures had been organized. The first, a meeting of the two sides, took place in Athens in October 1998 at the invitation of the Government of Greece. A second meeting was held last month in Istanbul at the invitation of the Turkish Government, and a third was planned for Yalta late this fall at the invitation of the Government of the Ukraine. Mr. Bota said those meetings encouraged direct Georgian-Abkhaz contacts through a wide spectrum of society, and the projects they engendered had resonance and visibility in the daily life of communities. The delegations included those who exercised real influence at the local level, including field commanders. The Georgian delegations had also included representatives of the government- in-exile. Their participation was particularly important because it gave the leadership of those structures a share of the responsibility for the successful and peaceful implementation of the measures agreed upon, he said.

As to the situation in Georgia, Mr. Bota said the Government continued to take strides towards the establishment and development of a democratic political system and a market economy. It was currently facing increasing domestic pressure in connection with the parliamentary elections scheduled for October and a presidential election to be held next spring. Most of the population continued to face social and economic hardship, he said.

In Abkhazia, Georgia, he said de facto presidential elections were scheduled to be held in the fall. Although the election rules had strictly limited eligibility for participation, Mr. Bota said the event would still constitute a popular referendum on the leadership of the incumbent, Vladislav Adzinba. In coming months, he would need to demonstrate to the population that there were real prospects for the economic development of Abkhazia, and that he was not in any way capitulating in his policies towards the Government of Georgia, Mr. Bota said. He also said that the economic situation in Abkhazia remained weak and that there had been no effective reconstruction

Georgia Press Briefing - 3 - 19 July 1999

since the war. The demographic picture remained dismal, as most young and able-bodied residents continued to seek employment or educational opportunities outside Abkhazia, Georgia.

Asked whether there was anything that could be done to push the peace process forward, Mr. Bota said the parties had to understand that there was no alternative but to accept a settlement of the conflict. There were all kinds of forces who believed that the conflict could be resolved by force, he said. The parties should support actively the efforts of the Secretary-General, he stated, adding that the next stage was the elaboration of a proposal for the political settlement of the conflict, dealing particularly with the status of Abkhazia. That document should be submitted -- and actively supported -- by the representative of the Secretary-General, together with the representatives of the Russian Federation and those of the Friends of the Secretary-General.

Mr. Bota said that it was only through that comprehensive approach that the parties could be pushed to manifest more energy in the peace process. It should be understood that the conflict was not taking place in a vacuum, but occurring in a region with all kinds of conflicts and developments. He said the two sides hoped those developments would help to strengthen their own stand. They counted on receiving active support from outside. "It would be important for all of us -- the Russian Federation and the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General -- to convey a clear message: they (the parties) have to be realistic and engage in constructive dialogue. Nobody will solve the problem for them", Mr. Bota said.

Asked when the document would be put together, Mr. Bota said they were "working on it", and that it would be put forward "probably in November".

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