PRESS CONFERENCE BY PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF GEORGIA

 

Georgia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Revaz Adamia, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon that there was no progress in the conflict-resolution in Abkhazia, Georgia “because there is no transparency in the process”.

Mr. Adamia said that he had called for a press conference after closed consultations of the Security Council, where a draft resolution was discussed for adoption on 30 March.  As a country on whose territory the conflict was taking place, Georgia had requested the Council to call a private meeting, in order to allow his delegation to make a statement.  The Council, unfortunately, had preferred to conduct closed consultations, without the presence of the general public, the media, or the Georgian representatives.  He emphasized that, in such a procedural matter, no veto could be exercised, and much depended on the Council’s President.  In that regard, he asked the current President, the representative of Argentina, how his country would like being excluded from a meeting on the Falkland Islands.

The Russian Federation was behind the non-transparent practice, he continued, and it was not the first time that it had blocked Georgia’s representative from speaking at a Council meeting.  The truth was that, despite officially proclaiming support for the territorial integrity of Georgia, Russia still backed the secessionist regime there.  By providing Russian citizenship, interfering, dictating conditions and sending envoys without consulting Georgian authorities, Russia had stepped on the path of annexation of Abkhazia.  Now, by introducing the concept of the “universality of the Kosovo model”, Russia was trying to legalize that ongoing, de facto, annexation.

Mr. Adamia said that the Russian Federation was also illegally acquiring property and land in Abkhazia and Russian military schools still prepared military personnel for the separatist regime.  An unprecedented militarization in Abkhazia was under way.  During recent months, large-scale military exercises had taken place.  Keeping in mind the very limited resources Abkhazia had, it was clear who was providing expertise, weapons and ammunition for those activities.  The peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) -- or rather the Russian peacekeeping force -- was covering for Abkhaz paramilitaries when they threatened, abducted or even killed Georgians.

In such a situation, one could not expect that the Abkhaz leaders would take a constructive position on peace negotiations, Mr. Adamia continued.  That was why they maid a claim for full independence and rejected the return of refugees and internally displaced persons.  Georgia did not see any alternative to a peaceful solution of the conflict, he said, “but any peaceful solution is a result of a two-way movement, if not of a multi-player process, which requires clear, courageous and transparent decisions from everybody who intends to be involved”.

The Security Council should not become “an exclusive club of privileged nations”, he said, adding that Council decisions, especially when they were so vital for nations, even more so for small nations, should be transparent and clear to the international community.

Answering a correspondent’s question about Russian actions since his last press conference on the subject ( 26 January 2005), he said the most interesting and dangerous development -- and the reason that no agreement had been reached on a draft resolution during January discussions -- was the introduction of the concept of the “universality of the Kosovo model”.  He could not agree with such a concept, not because he did not agree with the Kosovo process, but because secessionist regions could perceive the “Kosovo model” as the way to independence.

Georgia could not agree with the independence of Abkhazia or South Ossetia under the current situation where people were expelled from those regions, he continued.  If the refugees and internally displaced persons returned, if the conflict resolution would follow the path of Kosovo -- in other words, if the United Nations would be the governing structure and the peacekeeping forces were modelled on the Kosovo structure -- Georgia was ready to accept that model.  The model, however, could not be accepted as a way to independence of any region in his country.

Asked about reports that Georgia was delaying the registration of refugees and internally displaced persons, he answered that that process was performed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.  It was incorrect to say that Georgia was delaying it.

To another question, he said he did not know whether to expect a technical resolution on extending the mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), or whether the resolution would be more substantial.  Discussions were ongoing.  His delegation would not have a chance to address the Council during the adoption of the resolution on 30 March, as there would be no discussion during that meeting.

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For information media • not an official record