On July 11-12, 2023, the 58th round of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasus was held in Geneva, which was attended by representatives of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Republic of South Ossetia, Georgia, the Russian Federation and the United States under the co-chairmanship of the UN, the EU and the OSCE.
The Abkhazian delegation was headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia Iraklii Tuzhba. The delegation also included the head of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia, Lasha Avidzba, the head of the Department for interaction with international organizations, Artur Gaguliia, and the Deputy Chairman of the State Security Service of the Republic of Abkhazia, Zaal Khvartskiia.
During the round, the delegation of the Republic of Abkhazia again addressed the Georgian participants with a proposal to start full-fledged work on agreeing the text of a legally binding document on international guarantees for the non-use of force. The need to agree on and further sign a document on international guarantees of the non-use of force is a key issue on the agenda in accordance with the principles reflected in paragraph 6 of the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreements.
During the round, the Georgian delegation once again failed to demonstrate a constructive approach to resolving the key issues of the agenda. The Georgian participants again continue to block any proposals to agree on the text of the non-use of force document.
This question remains open and its discussion has been postponed to the next round.
Round participants also discussed other issues related to local security. It was noted that the situation in the region remains relatively calm and stable. During the round, the need was noted for the resumption of the work of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in Gal. The Abkhazian side confirmed its commitment to the resumption of the work of this mechanism, but the Georgian delegation did not respond to the proposals of Abkhazian participants aimed at unblocking the work of the IPRM.
Traditionally, within the Working Group 2 humanitarian issues were discussed. In particular, the Abkhazian side once again raised the issue of freedom of movement for citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia. During the 58th round, humanitarian issues related to access to education, medical care and a number of other topical issues were also discussed.
The next 59th round of the Geneva International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasus is scheduled for December 5-6, 2023.