PRESS CONFERENCE BY GEORGIA

At a Headquarters press conference this afternoon, Georgia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Revaz Adamia, appealed to the Security Council to assume effective leadership over the peace process in Abkhazia, in light of what he referred to as the Russian Federation’s ongoing annexation of that region. 

Annexation was nothing more than the assertion of control through political, economic and military means over the territory of another State, he added.  The region of Abkhazia had been torn away from Georgia by the Abkhaz separatists in 1992 with massive military and political support from the Russians.  Now that same country enjoyed the status of the “facilitator” of the peace process to end the conflict in Abkhazia.  However, its actions were contrary to what one should expect from the facilitator and impartial mediator of the peace process.

He cited several grounds for qualifying Russia’s actions as annexation.  First, the Russian Federation maintained a unilaterally imposed non-visa regime with the separatist regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, against all basic norms of international law and interstate relations.  Also, it maintained an illegal military base in Gudauta, Abkhazia, which operated against the consent of Georgia and in contravention of the international commitments undertaken by the Russian Federation during the Istanbul Summit to have it dismantled in 2001. 

In addition, the Russian Federation continued and even accelerated the granting of citizenship en masse to the population of Abkhazia, and Russian passports could now be obtained almost anywhere throughout the region. 

Equally important to note was the Russian Federation’s intensified economic and financial activities in the region.  Russian entrepreneurs and entities were engaged in illegal acquisitions of land and natural resources.  Recently, the railway between Sochi (Russian Federation) and Sokhumi (Georgia), which had been closed since 1992, had been reopened, flagrantly violating Georgian legislation and the decision of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Heads of State, including the Russian Federation.

It was difficult, he said, to reconcile those actions with the cooperative and constructive spirit of the recent meeting between Presidents Shevardnadze and Putin, where they affirmed that all economic activities in Abkhazia, including opening the railway, should be synchronized with the return of refugees and internally displaced persons to Abkhazia. 

As to the Security Council’s reaction to those dangerous developments, it seemed that it was, rather than leading the process, tacitly agreeing to the views of one of its permanent members, he said.  Regrettably, yesterday, the Council could not even find a way to listen to the views and concerns of Georgia’s representative at the meeting in which it adopted the resolution on Georgia.

Asked what specific action he expected from the Council, Mr. Adamia said that he expected the Council and the United Nations to be more actively involved in the peace process.  The Russian peacekeepers were “doing anything except peacekeeping” and were just “border guards”, he said.  Just after the ceasefire in 1994, about 2,000 Georgians had been killed in the zone in which the peacekeepers were working.  The peace process should be led by the United Nations.

As to whether he believed the mandate of the CIS peacekeeping force would be renewed, Mr. Adamia said that if the conditions discussed between the Georgian and Russian Presidents were fulfilled, such as halting the railway and granting of citizenship, then the mandate would be renewed.  Otherwise, it would be difficult to expect Georgia to agree to a renewal.

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