De facto Abkhazian Foreign Ministry criticizes PACE

The de facto Abkhazian Foreign Ministry expressed its discontent over the decision made at the Spring Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) on confirming the previously adopted resolutions on Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The de facto Foreign Ministry accused PACE of adopting “biased” resolutions, which “shift the responsibility from Georgia of starting tensions in the region and initiating the conflict in South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” the statement of the de facto Abkhazian Foreign Ministry reads.

PACE has once more demonstrated a “lack of constructive proposals” on solving the conflicts “between Georgia and South Ossetia, as well as between Georgia and Abkhazia,” the de facto officials claim. “PACE demands Russian Federation officials allow extension of the EU monitoring mission mandate on territory of Abkhazia, which indicates the unwillingness of the PACE representatives to discuss the internal issues of Abkhazia with the authorities of the Republic,” the statement reads “Despite the fact that Abkhazian Republic is a recognized, sovereign state, PACE continues to insist on the presence of the European Monitoring Mission in Abkhazia,” it continues.

The de facto Abkhazian Authorities claim that the European Union has no judicial grounds to be deployed on the territory of the “republic”. “The EU Monitoring Mission, deployed in Georgia has not brought positive changes in the sphere of security, as it continues ignoring the actions of Georgia aimed at militarisation and escalation of a new conflict,” the de facto Abkhazian Foreign Ministry says.

The Council of Europe officials called on Russia and Georgia, as well as the de facto Abkhazia and South Ossetia to start a “dialogue at all levels”. The head of the Fact-finding commission on the 2008 conflict in Georgia said during the debates at the Council of Europe that “All parties to the conflict failed, there were terrible violations of humanitarian and human rights law, and both the threat and use of force have returned to European politics.”

Co-rapporteur on the PACE Monitoring Commission, Matyas Eorsi also agreed that Georgia, Russia and the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were “all losers from the conflict,” however he said “Europe can never approve a new Yalta.” The other co-rapporteur on the conflict David Wilshire said Europe risked finding itself with yet another frozen conflict. “PACE can only offer one thing: dialogue – dialogue to start confidence-building, dialogue to build trust,” he said.