On 25th round of Geneva discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia
On 5-6 November 2013 another session in the frame of international discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia took place in Geneva. At the meeting participated delegations of Republic of South Ossetia, Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, Russian Federation, United States, representatives of EU, OSCE, UN. South Ossetia delegation was headed by Plenipotentiary Presidential Envoy on post conflict resolution Murat Jioev.
The main attention at the discussions, carried out in compliance with the Medvedev-Sarkozi agreements from 12 August and 8 September 2008, was paid to issues of non use of force by Georgia against South Ossetia and Abkhazia and to security in the region. South Ossetian delegation called to activate work on signing legally binding bilateral agreements on non use of force between Georgia and Republic of South Ossetia, Georgia and Republic of Abkhazia, the drafts of which were submitted earlier. As an important intermediary step in preparation of legally binding agreements and in support of unilateral statements made earlier by presidents of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia on mutual commitment to non use of force, South Ossetian delegation proposed to make and accept a joint statement of the discussion participants, the draft of which was earlier developed.
The unconstructive position of the Georgian delegation again did not allow to accept the joint statement. Experts will continue working on the text of the statement.
During the discussions on security and stability in the region of the South Ossetian-Georgian border, the meeting participants noted the importance of incident prevention and response mechanisms active in the region under the aegis of the Geneva process.
Representatives of South Ossetia underlined again that all works on defining and fixing of the state border line between South Ossetia and Georgia are carried out in full compliance with the sovereign right and legislation of Republic of South Ossetia and are aimed to facilitate stability in the area of state border. Documents presented by the South Ossetian delegation refuted the earlier made allegations of the Georgian side on violations of the rights of residents of villages of Ditsi and Dvani as well as proved lenient approach of South Ossetian authorities to residents of the bordering territories. At the same time, representatives of South Ossetia called on the Georgian authorities again to start joint works on delimitation and demarcation of the state border line.
A comprehensive discussion took place on humanitarian issues, a lot of attention was paid to those citizens of South Ossetia that are missing in action as well as those that were illegally sentenced in Georgia. Violations of the rights of residents of South Ossetia, citizens of Russia, travelling abroad were also raised.
In order to raise effectiveness of the session, the issues were discussed in two working groups in the framework of Geneva Discussions.
In the frame of the 25th round of the discussions, the International Experts carried out an informational session on pragmatic approach to freedom of movement.
The next 26th round of Geneva discussions is scheduled for 17 – 18 December 2013.
Geneva, 7 November 2013