Monday, July 30, 2007, #143 (1410)

OSCE Envoy Stresses “Full Inclusiveness” in South Ossetian Conflict Resolution
By Ana Kvrivishvili

On July 26, Special Envoy of OSCE Chairman-in-Office Jose Borrell Fontelles praised the efforts of the Georgian government to involve all sides in the process of South Ossetian conflict resolution.

“Dialogue is essential given the current tense atmosphere in the zone of conflict,” Fonatelles said.
While encouraging efforts at dialogue and peaceful resolution to the conflict, the Special Envoy reminded the parties there was still unaddressed issues to be dealt with.

“We are encouraged by the re-affirmations of commitment to peaceful resolution and dialogue between the Sides. However implementation of joint decisions on demilitarization of the [South Ossetian] zone of conflict, and joint policing, is yet to be achieved,” said the Special Envoy.

Fontelles stressed “the need for full inclusiveness of all interested actors, and a considered pace of work,” reads the OSCE press release.

He welcomed the readiness of the country to participate in the effective functioning of negotiation mechanisms. He applauded the recent agreement reached by all sides to host a JCC meeting in Tbilisi at the OSCE office.

“The forthcoming meeting of the JCC in Tbilisi is a positive move,” Fontelles said.

Fontelles also declared that OSCE will watch with “great interest” the work of the state commission for South Ossetian status led by Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli.

On July 25, the OSCE official met with newly-appointed Georgian State Minister on Conflict Resolution Issues Davit Bakradze in Tbilisi. The meeting was also attended by the head of the South Ossetian temporary administrative unit, Dmitry Sanakoyev.

Earlier de facto president of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity threatened not to allow international representatives which maintain contacts with “Tbilisi’s henchmen” on South Ossetian territory.

“We declare officially, that those international organizations, having contact with Sanakoyev, [de facto prime minister] Uruzmag Karkusov and those like them, won’t be allowed to enter the territory of the South Ossetian Republic,” Kokoity asserted.

Kokoity expressed his regrets about the OSCE’s and international organizations’ contacts with the temporary administrative unit of South Ossetia headed by Tbilisi-backed Sanakoyev.

“This kind of contact undermines the South Ossetian population’s confidence in international organizations,” the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee reports Kokoity as saying.
Despite the threats, Kokoity met with Fontelles in Tskhinali on July 26.

According to the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee, Kokoity said he was ready to meet with the president of Georgia to sign a memorandum on the non-use of force. He also complained that the main problem in the conflict resolution process was that the Georgian side kept presenting new plans and that all of them only considered Georgia’s interests calling them “unilateral” and “without regard to South Ossetia’s opinion.”

During Fontelles’ two-day visit in Georgia, Fotelles also met with Georgian Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze, Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli and Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili.



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