Thursday, August 9, 2007, #151 (1418)

Tbilisi JCC session off, Georgians downgrade representation on commission

By Eter Tsotniahvili

The meeting of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) planned for August 9-10 in Tbilisi is cancelled, and the next one will possibly be in September in Moscow, said Russian JCC co-chairman Yuri Popov a day before the session was to take place.

According to him, Russian negotiators will again go to Tskhinvali to conduct negotiations with South Ossetian de facto authorities.

"We shall start working on a new agenda for the JCC," Popov said. He told the news agency RIA Novosti that the Russian delegation would be in the conflict zone until Saturday, adding that they're ready to meet with Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Davit Bakradze at any time.

But the diplomatic row over the August 6 missile strike is hamstringing cooperation.

"Every time when negotiations are discussed for the JCC, provocations are made to try and show that Russian participation is ineffective," declared the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Some argue that the missed meeting is a tactical victory for Tbilisi. Moscow wants to maintain the JCC as the only mechanism of negotiations, while Tbilisi would prefer a more international approach to the South Ossetian issue.
After the missile incident, Bakradze said that Russia's role as South Ossetian conflict mediator has been undermined.

"It is even hard to imagine sitting at a negotiating table with Russia and holding talks with Russia as a mediator after the act of aggression which was carried out against Georgia," Bakradze told Rustavi 2 TV on August 7.

He also stated that the Georgian side was ready to hold this session. South Ossetian secessionist authorities insisted that they were not being given the security guarantees they needed to go forward with the meeting.

In a move widely viewed as highlighting Tbilisi's dissatisfaction with the JCC format, Bakradze appointed his deputy, Dmitry Manjavidze, as Georgian co-chair for the JCC that same day.

Tskhinvali condemned the appointment as another attempt to undermine the existing negotiating format.

The JCC co-chairs are now Yuri Popov of Russia, Boris Chochiev of South Ossetia, Murat Tkhosov of North Ossetia, and Dmitry Manjavidze of Georgia. The last, informal, JÑÑ session was held in South Ossetia on June 13. Tbilisi refused to attend.



© The Messenger. All rights reserved. Please read our disclaimer before using any of the published materials.