Georgia hails PACE resolution

Georgian officials have declared the PACE resolution entitled “The War between Georgia and Russia: One Year After” as “impartial and consistent”. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia welcomes the impartial and clear document adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe,” a statement posted on its website says. “We reiterate that Georgia will do its utmost to continue fulfilling its obligations. At the same time we are confident that the adequate and efficient steps taken by the Assembly, designed to ensure the implementation of its own demands will be followed through,” the statement reads.

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe’s resolution urges the Russian authorities to give unrestricted access to both South Ossetia and Abkhazia to European Union monitors, grant freedom of movement for Georgian civilians across the administrative boundaries and lift restrictions, including those concerning point of entry, on international and humanitarian organisations and humanitarian aid entering the two regions. The resolution also tells Russia to formally recognise and effectively secure the right of safe and dignified return for all IDPs, including those from the 2008 war, to their original places of residence in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and to initiate a credible investigation into acts of alleged ethnic cleansing committed by the South Ossetian forces allied to it or by civilians under its de facto jurisdiction and control and “implement measures to reverse or, if not possible, to remedy those acts.” PACE has demanded that Russia should fulfill these instructions “by the end of this year.”

It is noted in the PACE resolution that most of its previous demands had had “no relation” to the dispute over the status of the two regions and therefore PACE could not understand why Russia had failed to comply even with these. This failure underscored Russia’s lack of political will to address the consequences of the war “in a manner incumbent upon a member state of the Council of Europe,” it added. PACE also encouraged the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court to request the formal opening of an investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by either side during and after the war.

The Russian delegation to PACE has described the resolution as “provocative” and “predestined to be unfulfilled.” Russian Foreign Ministry officials have said that the call for “unrestricted access for international monitors” to Abkhazia and South Ossetia “does not reflect the current realities.” “On this matter they should apply to the Abkhazian and South Ossetian Governments directly,” a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.

Georgian politicians say that Russia is “isolating” itself by not fulfilling the commitments imposed by international organisations. The head of the Temporary Parliamentary Committee on Territorial Integrity Issues, Shota Malashkhia, has suggested that the Council of Europe will have to use sanctions against Russia. “Sooner or later the Council of Europe will have to deprive Russia of the right to vote or exclude Russia from this organisation,” Malashkhia stated. The MP said that the successive PACE resolutions were becoming more and more “acute”.

PACE is set to discuss depriving the Russian delegation of its credentials for not fulfilling the main demands of previous PACE resolutions today. 72 Assembly members have requested that this be debated. However Georgian media outlets have reported that the PACE Monitoring Commission does not supported this initiative, although it will still be debated.

Georgian MPs say the attitude of the Council of Europe is “consistent”. MP Nika Laliashvili from the Christian Democratic Movement has said that it would be “exaggerated” to expect that the Council of Europe would immediately suspend Russia’s right to vote. The MP expressed his doubt that the “Russian political elite” would meet the deadline set by PACE, however he suggested that “international pressure will force Russia to behave more appropriately.”

Political analysts say that it is unlikely that Russia will meet any of the demands of the PACE resolution. Independent commentator Zurab Abashidze has said however that even if Russia does not no sanctions are likely to be imposed on it. “Nobody in the West wants to confront Russia nowadays,” Abashidze told The Messenger.