Georgia-Russia: Still Insecure and Dangerous

22.06.2009 | crisisgroup | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
Tbilisi/Brussels, 22 June 2009: Russian diplomatic pressure is dismantling the critical international conflict resolution machinery in Georgia, leaving the region facing a potentially explosive situation in which even a small incident could spark new fighting.

Georgia-Russia: Still Insecure and Dangerous,* the latest policy briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines the situation ten months after the August 2008 war and finds deep cause for concern. Moscow’s 15 June Security Council veto of an extension of the sixteen-year-old UN observer mission’s mandate in Georgia and Abkhazia and its apparent intention to require the removal of the mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) by 30 June are blows to regional security that will fuel tensions.

“With both the UN and OSCE missions given the chop, there will be no independent observers around the conflict zones of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and there will be no mechanism for ensuring that minor incidents don’t deteriorate into wider fighting”, says Lawrence Sheets, Crisis Group’s Caucasus Project Director. “Russia’s actions have created a hugely hazardous atmosphere. Moscow needs to review its policy and work for a reasonable compromise allowing the UN and OSCE monitors to continue their important work”.

The Georgia-Russia war ended with ceasefire agreements that required an end to military action, a pull-back to pre-war positions and access for humanitarian and monitoring missions to conflict areas. But Russia has not complied with key aspects of the deal that President Dimitri Medvedev reached in August/September 2008 with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his then-EU presidency role. The security situation on the ground today remains tense. Neither side has engaged in meaningful negotiations to stabilise the region.

Russia says it is acting at the request of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which do not trust international observers. But Moscow has legal obligations to do more for the security and safety of local populations, regardless of ethnicity, and to prevent human rights abuses in areas that are in effect under its control. Most importantly, it must expand efforts to allow the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially the approximately 25,000 ethnic Georgians who have been unable to go back to their homes in South Ossetia.

Russia not only keeps excessive troop levels in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in contravention of the ceasefire agreements, but has also increased their numbers and fortified bases to demarcate, in effect, the administrative borders between Georgia and the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both of which it has recognised as independent states. Its policy of preventing international monitors access to those areas undermines stability and conflict resolution efforts. It should use its dominant influence to allow monitors access, facilitate IDP return and encourage South Ossetia and Abkhazia to engage in genuine negotiations with Tbilisi.

“If the UN and OSCE missions do indeed leave Georgia, as Russia seems to desire, it will deepen regional tensions”, says Alain Deletroz, Crisis Group’s Vice President for Europe. “Rather than prompt further instability, Moscow should take a responsible approach that encourages internationally recognised institutions of conflict prevention and resolution to work freely on the ground. Another war and another IDP crisis in the Caucasus are not in anyone’s interest”.

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*Read the full Crisis Group briefing on our website: http://www.crisisgroup.org
Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 2 541 1635
Kimberly Abbott (Washington) +1 202 785 1601
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Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #

SECURITY COUNCIL FAILS TO ADOPT RESOLUTION EXTENDING MANDATE OF GEORGIA

15.06.2009 | UN-Sicherheitsrat | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
MISSION FOR 2 WEEKS, AS RUSSIAN FEDERATION VOTES AGAINST TEXT
Vote: 10 in favour to 1 against, with 4 Abstentions;
‘Rollover Text’ Aimed to Allow More Time for Negotiations on New Mandate
The nearly 16-year United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) was ended this evening, when a draft resolution that would have extended its mandate for just two weeks to allow divergent views to coalesce around a new security regime in the region, failed to pass, owing to a veto exercised by the Russian Federation.
The draft resolution, submitted by Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States, was defeated by a vote of 10 in favour to 1 against (Russian Federation), with 4 abstentions (China, Libya, Uganda, Viet Nam), concluding, for now, a United Nations presence in that region, at a time when, according to the latest Secretary-General’s report, the local population remained in a precarious situation and a ceasefire regime was already eroding.
Since 1994, UNOMIG has monitored the ceasefire ending the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict that drove hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Dramatic changes followed the outbreak of hostilities in South Ossetia on 7 and 8 August 2008, which profoundly impacted conditions in the Georgian-Abkhaz zone and the overall conflict-settlement process.
Prior to today’s action, the Security Council unanimously approved a mandate extension of the mission until 15 June, through the passage of resolution 1866 (2009) in February, while expressing its intention to outline by today the elements of a future United Nations presence in the region. To help foster an agreement on a new security regime in line with that text, the Secretary General presented recommendations for such a regime in his 18 May report to the Council (document S/2009/254). ...
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, UN, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #

Erklärung zur Beendigung der UNOMIG durch den UN-Generalsekretär

15.06.2009 | UNOMIG | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
STATEMENT ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE SPOKESPERSON FOR THE SECRETARY-GENERAL
The Secretary-General has taken note of the lack of agreement within the Security Council on the future activities of a United Nations stabilization mission.
In accordance with this outcome, the Secretary-General will instruct his Special Representative to take all measures required to cease the operations of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), effective 16 June. He will consult with his Senior Advisors and his Special Representative on the immediate next steps.
The Secretary-General regrets that the Security Council has been unable to reach agreement on the basis of a package of practical and realistic proposals he submitted to the Security Council aimed at contributing to a stabilization of the situation on the ground.
The Secretary-General extends his appreciation to all the men and women who served the mission, and to the countries that provided them. In particular, he expresses his profound tribute to the memory of those who have lost their lives in the service of peace there.
New York, 15 June 2009
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, UN, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #