Daur Kove, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia held a regular meeting with Toivo Claar, Cihan Sultanoglu, Rudolf Michachka, the Co-Chairmen of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia from the EU, the UN and OSCE on September 20, 2018.
The Abkhaz side was also attended by Irakli Tuzhba, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia, Vladimir Arlan, the Deputy Chairman of the Abkhazian State Security Service as well as Lasha Avidzba, Arthur Gaguliya, Said Kakaliya, Madina Shamba, the employees of the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry, participants of the upcoming round of the Geneva discussions.
Opening the meeting Daur Kove, Foreign Minister of Abkhazia greeted the new co-chairs of the Geneva discussions - Cihan Sultanoglu, the co-chair of the UN and Rudolf Michachka, the special representative from the OSCE on the issues of the South Caucasus.
The Minister expressed the hope that the rich professional experience of the new co-chairs will provide an opportunity to move forward and achieve positive results at the Geneva discussions.
Daur Kove expressed serious concern on how the Georgian side promotes and realizes the process with the so-called "Otkhozoriya-Tatunashvili" list.
"Unfortunately, we see that Georgia is trying to politicize the issue of" Otkhozoriya-Tatunashvili ", thus seriously harming the work of the IPRM and the Geneva format as a whole.".
" We were forced to suspend the previous round of the IPRM, which takes place in Gal due to the fact that specific names have been added to the list of Otkhozoriya-Tatunashvili," said Daur Kove.
The head of the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry stressed that the suspension of the work of the IPRM format is of a technical nature. "We have always expressed and express our interest in continuing the format of the IPRM as well as the International Geneva Discussions. To my great regret, on the initiative of Georgia, two citizens of South Ossetia, those involved in the list of "Otkhozoriya-Tatunashvili", were put on the international wanted list through Interpol, which led to the disruption of the recent meeting in the framework of the IPRM in Ergneti, "he said.
Daur Kove asked the Co-Chairs to inform the representatives of Georgia on the pernicious nature of this kind of provocative actions that undermine the foundations of the whole negotiating process within the framework of the Geneva discussions.
In turn, Toivo Claar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus at the beginning of his speech expressed his condolences on behalf of all co-chairmen in connection with the tragic death of Gennady Gagulia, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia.
Toivo Claar stressed that the Geneva discussions and the format of the IPRM are of great importance. Successful work within the framework of GID is important not only for international mediators but for the participants themselves. "It is in our common interest to do everything possible to ensure that the Geneva discussions and the format of the IPRM function in the best way and bear fruit," he said.
The co-chairman from the United Nations at the Geneva Discussions Cihan Sultanoglu noted that her appointment to this post is a confirmation of the UN commitment to the successful work of the Geneva discussions.
She also said that the UN Secretary-General called on all negotiators to use a constructive approach to get the best results in the work of the Geneva discussions.
"Our position is to encourage the participants to use a pragmatic approach, to interact openly in all matters. First of all, I am here to listen to the suggestions of all the participants and jointly think on how to breathe new life into the work of the Geneva discussions. Let me confirm once again my commitment to this process and I hope that together we will be able to make progress, "she said.
Rudolf Michalka, the OSCE Special Representative for the South Caucasus said that the OSCE pays special attention to this conflict and its solution. "Of course, we are in favor of security, but also for cooperation between the participants. We have a mandate which is not only in the function of co-moderators. We have certain ambitions for offering concrete solutions to the participants and we present them to you. I am confident that we will be able to find constructive solutions on all issues.".
Then the participants of the meeting discussed in detail the agenda of the forthcoming 45-th round, in particular, the draft of a joint statement of commitment to the non-use of force which would serve as an important step towards signing a legally binding agreement on the non-use of force between Georgia and Abkhazia and Georgia and South Ossetia as the main the objectives of the Geneva discussions.
The meeting also focused on humanitarian issues related to freedom of movement, environmental security issues and other topical issues of the upcoming round of the Geneva discussions.
The next 45-th round of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia is scheduled for October 9-10, 2018.
The Abkhaz side was also attended by Irakli Tuzhba, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia, Vladimir Arlan, the Deputy Chairman of the Abkhazian State Security Service as well as Lasha Avidzba, Arthur Gaguliya, Said Kakaliya, Madina Shamba, the employees of the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry, participants of the upcoming round of the Geneva discussions.
Opening the meeting Daur Kove, Foreign Minister of Abkhazia greeted the new co-chairs of the Geneva discussions - Cihan Sultanoglu, the co-chair of the UN and Rudolf Michachka, the special representative from the OSCE on the issues of the South Caucasus.
The Minister expressed the hope that the rich professional experience of the new co-chairs will provide an opportunity to move forward and achieve positive results at the Geneva discussions.
Daur Kove expressed serious concern on how the Georgian side promotes and realizes the process with the so-called "Otkhozoriya-Tatunashvili" list.
"Unfortunately, we see that Georgia is trying to politicize the issue of" Otkhozoriya-Tatunashvili ", thus seriously harming the work of the IPRM and the Geneva format as a whole.".
" We were forced to suspend the previous round of the IPRM, which takes place in Gal due to the fact that specific names have been added to the list of Otkhozoriya-Tatunashvili," said Daur Kove.
The head of the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry stressed that the suspension of the work of the IPRM format is of a technical nature. "We have always expressed and express our interest in continuing the format of the IPRM as well as the International Geneva Discussions. To my great regret, on the initiative of Georgia, two citizens of South Ossetia, those involved in the list of "Otkhozoriya-Tatunashvili", were put on the international wanted list through Interpol, which led to the disruption of the recent meeting in the framework of the IPRM in Ergneti, "he said.
Daur Kove asked the Co-Chairs to inform the representatives of Georgia on the pernicious nature of this kind of provocative actions that undermine the foundations of the whole negotiating process within the framework of the Geneva discussions.
In turn, Toivo Claar, the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus at the beginning of his speech expressed his condolences on behalf of all co-chairmen in connection with the tragic death of Gennady Gagulia, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia.
Toivo Claar stressed that the Geneva discussions and the format of the IPRM are of great importance. Successful work within the framework of GID is important not only for international mediators but for the participants themselves. "It is in our common interest to do everything possible to ensure that the Geneva discussions and the format of the IPRM function in the best way and bear fruit," he said.
The co-chairman from the United Nations at the Geneva Discussions Cihan Sultanoglu noted that her appointment to this post is a confirmation of the UN commitment to the successful work of the Geneva discussions.
She also said that the UN Secretary-General called on all negotiators to use a constructive approach to get the best results in the work of the Geneva discussions.
"Our position is to encourage the participants to use a pragmatic approach, to interact openly in all matters. First of all, I am here to listen to the suggestions of all the participants and jointly think on how to breathe new life into the work of the Geneva discussions. Let me confirm once again my commitment to this process and I hope that together we will be able to make progress, "she said.
Rudolf Michalka, the OSCE Special Representative for the South Caucasus said that the OSCE pays special attention to this conflict and its solution. "Of course, we are in favor of security, but also for cooperation between the participants. We have a mandate which is not only in the function of co-moderators. We have certain ambitions for offering concrete solutions to the participants and we present them to you. I am confident that we will be able to find constructive solutions on all issues.".
Then the participants of the meeting discussed in detail the agenda of the forthcoming 45-th round, in particular, the draft of a joint statement of commitment to the non-use of force which would serve as an important step towards signing a legally binding agreement on the non-use of force between Georgia and Abkhazia and Georgia and South Ossetia as the main the objectives of the Geneva discussions.
The meeting also focused on humanitarian issues related to freedom of movement, environmental security issues and other topical issues of the upcoming round of the Geneva discussions.
The next 45-th round of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia is scheduled for October 9-10, 2018.