NATO and Russia resumed formal political talks on Wednesday with a meeting of the ambassadors of the 28 allies and Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin after a freeze for eight months. NATO said there were positive signs from the Russian side, particularly on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. But Russia blasted the alliance for its planned military exercises in Georgia, which Russia briefly invaded in August 2008. The NATO-Russia Council (NRC) meeting at ambassadorial level was the first formal one since August 2008 when NATO angrily suspended all high-level political contacts with Russia following the Russia-Georgia military conflict in the Caucasus.
"The meeting opened with a shared view that the NATO-Russia Council meeting was a very welcome one, that the time has come to take the next step," said NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero. "There was positive expectation of the future work of the NATO-Russia Council."
She said the council discussed ways to "make the most of the NRC," without going into details. The parties also discussed the upcoming NRC at ministerial level, which will be held in the second half of May, she said. Romero said there are positive signs on compromise between NATO and Russia on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty. "Where there seems to be new energy is the CFE issue. There seems to be a positive spirit of compromise, including in the framework of the NRC," she said.
But Rogozin was more cautious. He told reporters after the meeting that serious discussions would be held elsewhere, most probably in Geneva, rather than in the NRC. "Let us just not run into that too early. We have not just yet started that discussion." Russia suspended its obligations under the CFE treaty in 2007, citing the fact that none of the NATO countries had ratified it. NATO has since tried to bring Moscow back to the treaty, which limits the quantity of tanks and other conventional weapons in Europe. NATO has said the CFE treaty was a corner stone for European security.
The council also touched upon Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's proposals for a new European security architecture. The majority of the countries in the NRC held that the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) would be the appropriate forum for discussion, although they did not rule out discussions within the NRC, said Romero.
Rogozin said, however, that this issue should also be discussed in the NRC because "the NRC is first of all concerned with hard security issues." Wednesday's NRC meeting comes at a time of uneasy relations between NATO and Russia over the alliance's military exercises in Georgia between May 6 and June 1.
Romero said the parties discussed the issue and that their positions did not change. Rogozin, however, lashed out at NATO, labelling the exercises as "totally out of place." He said he was not convinced by NATO allies' explanation that the exercises pose no threat to Russia's security.
"I insist that these exercises are totally out of place," he told reporters after the meeting. "Any muscle flexing along our borders is not acceptable at all." He noted that the exercises will be held against the background of parliamentary elections in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia, the first such poll after Russia's recognition of independence of the region. "I cannot name it other than political blackmailing."
Rogozin said Russia is also worried by statements from high-ranking U.S. officials that the NATO exercises are meant to support Georgia's territorial integrity. He blamed NATO for its "political blindness" that refuses to recognize Russia's national interests. "In a sense, NATO reminds me of a blind rhinoceros."
NATO has said the two series of exercises were planned in January 2008, long before the August 2008 Russia-Georgia military conflict over South Ossetia. But Rogozin argued on Wednesday that the fact that they were planned long ago does not mean that they could not be postponed or even cancelled altogether. He said the exercises would mean that NATO is ready to do business as usual with Georgia after the conflict, but at the same time is pursuing a policy of no business as usual with Russia, referring to the freeze of political contacts. "At least this was some sort of interruption that we couldn't get an answer to," said Rogozin.
NATO has said Russia, as a Program for Peace partner of the alliance, was actually invited to the exercises but Moscow turned down the invitation. NATO said it would welcome Russian observers to the games to clear up misunderstanding. But Moscow has rejected the offer. Russia also called off a meeting with NATO chiefs of defense scheduled for May 7. Before the NRC meeting on Wednesday, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said he was looking forward to the meeting. But that does not mean NATO and Russia would suddenly agree on everything.
"There are a number of issues where we should seriously work together. But we should not shy away from difficult issues where we fundamentally disagree," he told reporters after a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev in the morning. "The NATO-Russia Council is not a fair weather body." De Hoop Scheffer said the two sides should work together in weapons non-proliferation, Afghanistan and the fight against terrorism. But they still have fundamental differences over issues such as the territorial integrity of Georgia and the CFE treaty.
xinhuanet.com
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Abkhazia-Georgia border continues to be flashpoint of violence
Russia has helped Georgia's former breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia make their borders more secure, but even with the new measures, people in the two regions say they still don't feel safe on home soil.
A checkpoint in the Abkhazian town of Gali on the border with Georgia came under fire several weeks ago. Abkhazian border patrolmen blame Georgian militants for the shelling. They say the group illegally crossed the border at night and launched a sneak attack.
"In the morning they walked around and found RPG shells at the bus stop nearby," recalls Radik Agrba, deputy commander at the ‘Ingur' checkpoint.
Abkhazia declared independence from mainland Georgia in the early nineties. For more than 15 years it remained a frozen conflict zone. In 2008, after Georgia launched a military campaign against Tskhinval, Russia recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, signing treaties on diplomatic and military cooperation.
Following separate terrorist attacks in the capital Sukhum last year, Abkhazian officials ordered the border with Georgia to be blocked, blaming Tbilisi for organizing them.
The situation at the checkpoint in Gali remains tense, but locals say it is possible to get into Georgia - but not for sight-seeing. Despite recent incidents the border remains open for those traveling for humanitarian reasons, such as family events and medical emergencies. Many locals have relatives abroad, so they have to cross this bridge every once in a while.
The Gali district is the only territory of Abkhazia where ethnic Georgians are a majority. Over 60,000 refugees returned to the region in recent years.
Local resident Avtandil Ezugbaya is the headmaster of the school in Gali. His wife Liya recently gave birth to their son Luca. The family hopes to share the good news with their relatives in mainland Georgia.
"After the war the ties were broken, but not all ties. He's still in touch with his relatives, but he wants to see them more often. Politics are politics, but he'd like to restore all human ties," says Avtandil Ezugbaya.
Officials in Gali say they would be glad to make the border more open for civilians and harder for criminals to cross, but it cannot be done without Russia's help. A deal to allow both sides to modernise their checkpoints is a long-awaited agreement, says Ruslan Kishmaria, a presidential envoy to the Gali district.
"There were attacks every day and the district needed this treaty like air and water. And they've been waiting for the treaty for a very long time," says Ruslan Kishmaria.
It is expected that Russia will provide training for Abkhazian officers and the latest technology for the checkpoints. And that in turn, may help minimize the terrorist threat, making life in Gali safer and more peaceful.
Russia Today
A checkpoint in the Abkhazian town of Gali on the border with Georgia came under fire several weeks ago. Abkhazian border patrolmen blame Georgian militants for the shelling. They say the group illegally crossed the border at night and launched a sneak attack.
"In the morning they walked around and found RPG shells at the bus stop nearby," recalls Radik Agrba, deputy commander at the ‘Ingur' checkpoint.
Abkhazia declared independence from mainland Georgia in the early nineties. For more than 15 years it remained a frozen conflict zone. In 2008, after Georgia launched a military campaign against Tskhinval, Russia recognised South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, signing treaties on diplomatic and military cooperation.
Following separate terrorist attacks in the capital Sukhum last year, Abkhazian officials ordered the border with Georgia to be blocked, blaming Tbilisi for organizing them.
The situation at the checkpoint in Gali remains tense, but locals say it is possible to get into Georgia - but not for sight-seeing. Despite recent incidents the border remains open for those traveling for humanitarian reasons, such as family events and medical emergencies. Many locals have relatives abroad, so they have to cross this bridge every once in a while.
The Gali district is the only territory of Abkhazia where ethnic Georgians are a majority. Over 60,000 refugees returned to the region in recent years.
Local resident Avtandil Ezugbaya is the headmaster of the school in Gali. His wife Liya recently gave birth to their son Luca. The family hopes to share the good news with their relatives in mainland Georgia.
"After the war the ties were broken, but not all ties. He's still in touch with his relatives, but he wants to see them more often. Politics are politics, but he'd like to restore all human ties," says Avtandil Ezugbaya.
Officials in Gali say they would be glad to make the border more open for civilians and harder for criminals to cross, but it cannot be done without Russia's help. A deal to allow both sides to modernise their checkpoints is a long-awaited agreement, says Ruslan Kishmaria, a presidential envoy to the Gali district.
"There were attacks every day and the district needed this treaty like air and water. And they've been waiting for the treaty for a very long time," says Ruslan Kishmaria.
It is expected that Russia will provide training for Abkhazian officers and the latest technology for the checkpoints. And that in turn, may help minimize the terrorist threat, making life in Gali safer and more peaceful.
Russia Today
Russia to help SOssetia, Abkhazia protect borders
Russia will help South Ossetia and Abkhazia to protect their borders against a feared new Georgian attack that Tbilisi may be heartened to launch after a NATO exercise next month.
On Thursday Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his counterparts from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Eduard Kokoity and Sergei Bagapsh, will sign an agreement on joint efforts to protect state borders. Additional agreements will be signed by the security services of the three countries.
Russia recognized independence of the two former Georgian provinces following the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia in August.
"Due to the remaining revanchist intentions of Tbilisi and its course towards remilitarization, as well as aggressive and provocative conduct on the borders with South Ossetia and Abkhazia the holding in Georgia of a NATO exercise on May 6 - June 1 -- no matter what they say about its planned and routine character - cannot be assessed other than moral encouragement of the recent aggressor and a provocative gesture against Russia," a Kremlin official said.
The agreements envisage that Russia will provide assistance to South Ossetia and Abkhazia in training border guards and developing national border services.
"The agreements become specifically vital in the context of the situation that emerged in TransCaucasia today. It is unstable and explosive," the Kremlin official said and explained that Georgian army with heavy hardware and police forces are concentrating close to the borders of the two republics.
Russia estimates some 2.5 Georgian men are staying close to the borders where they erected 50 stationary and mobile posts. "Artillery and armor are being moved to the border areas with South Ossetia," the official said adding the number of provocations has been on the rise of late.
He also said resolute ongoing calls of the Georgian opposition for the resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili intensified political struggle in Georgia, which is "fraught with any possible provocations of the Saakashvili regime".
The official said the three presidents will also discuss Russian economic assistance to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In 2009 the Russian government plans to earmark to South Ossetia that was destroyed by massive Georgian shelling 8.5 billion rubles and additional three billion rubles from extra-budget funds.
Russia's Gazprom giant will complete in July the construction of a mountain gas pipeline that will pump fuel to South Ossetia directly from Russia bypassing Georgia that cut gas supplies to South Ossetia in winter. So far 30 out of 80 kilometers of the pipeline were built.
Russian companies plan to invest close to one billion rubles into Abkhazia and restore the highway linking Sukhum with Sochi, renovate a hospital in Sukhum and the New Afon Orthodox monastery, as well as energy utilities and residential quarters.
itar-tass.com
On Thursday Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his counterparts from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Eduard Kokoity and Sergei Bagapsh, will sign an agreement on joint efforts to protect state borders. Additional agreements will be signed by the security services of the three countries.
Russia recognized independence of the two former Georgian provinces following the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia in August.
"Due to the remaining revanchist intentions of Tbilisi and its course towards remilitarization, as well as aggressive and provocative conduct on the borders with South Ossetia and Abkhazia the holding in Georgia of a NATO exercise on May 6 - June 1 -- no matter what they say about its planned and routine character - cannot be assessed other than moral encouragement of the recent aggressor and a provocative gesture against Russia," a Kremlin official said.
The agreements envisage that Russia will provide assistance to South Ossetia and Abkhazia in training border guards and developing national border services.
"The agreements become specifically vital in the context of the situation that emerged in TransCaucasia today. It is unstable and explosive," the Kremlin official said and explained that Georgian army with heavy hardware and police forces are concentrating close to the borders of the two republics.
Russia estimates some 2.5 Georgian men are staying close to the borders where they erected 50 stationary and mobile posts. "Artillery and armor are being moved to the border areas with South Ossetia," the official said adding the number of provocations has been on the rise of late.
He also said resolute ongoing calls of the Georgian opposition for the resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili intensified political struggle in Georgia, which is "fraught with any possible provocations of the Saakashvili regime".
The official said the three presidents will also discuss Russian economic assistance to South Ossetia and Abkhazia. In 2009 the Russian government plans to earmark to South Ossetia that was destroyed by massive Georgian shelling 8.5 billion rubles and additional three billion rubles from extra-budget funds.
Russia's Gazprom giant will complete in July the construction of a mountain gas pipeline that will pump fuel to South Ossetia directly from Russia bypassing Georgia that cut gas supplies to South Ossetia in winter. So far 30 out of 80 kilometers of the pipeline were built.
Russian companies plan to invest close to one billion rubles into Abkhazia and restore the highway linking Sukhum with Sochi, renovate a hospital in Sukhum and the New Afon Orthodox monastery, as well as energy utilities and residential quarters.
itar-tass.com
Georgia-Russia: 'dialogue is the only way forward'
The Assembly reviewed the action taken by Georgia and Russia on Resolution 1647 (2009) adopted by the PACE in January 2009.
"The information report submitted by the co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee (Luc Van den Brande (Belgium, EPP/CD) and Mátyás Eörsi (Hungary, ALDE)) concluded that Georgia has not yet fully complied with all of the Assembly's demands. Russia, for its part, has failed to comply with most of the demands and might even be seen as moving further away from the minimum conditions for meaningful dialogue," PACE reported.
The report re-affirms that both countries must fully comply with the Assembly's demands set out in Resolutions 1633(2008) and 1647 (2009) ; in addition, it calls on both countries to implement without delay a series of steps to avoid a deterioration of the security situation and stability of the region, as well as to ensure that the minimum conditions for a meaningful dialogue between Russia and Georgia are met. The rapporteurs "continue to be convinced that the establishment of a genuine dialogue is the only way forward for the resolution of this conflict and the long-term stability in the region".
Konstantin Kosachev: "PACE makes errors in South Caucasus"
Chairman of the State Duma committee on international affairs Konstantin Kosachev said on Wednesday PACE insistence to politicize the situation related to South Ossetia and Georgia in its resolution on humanitarian issues was erroneous.He also told Vesti TV channel PACE is taking no concrete action and is only observing the situation.
"There is no talk about the provision of any funds, about any projects, they simply state that the situation is difficult and we naturally agree with such an assessment," he said.
He welcomed PACE calls on conflicting parties to refrain from mounting tensions and resolve the problems of those people who have not yet returned to normal life.
"At the same time the Assembly continues to make mistakes," he said, adding "several political, politicized amendments were introduced in today' s resolution on humanitarian aspects of the situation."
Kosachev said PACE continues to call the border of Russia-recognized South Ossetia with Georgia as the administrative border like it was when Georgia and South Ossetia were in one state.
"Many believe that any other definition would mean an indirect recognition of the independence of South Ossetia, However, when they say ‘administrative border', there is a feeling that border may be anytime crossed by the Georgian armed or police forces," Kosachev said.
"As a result, the meaning of a border as a factor of protection of the people living in the zone of tensions weakens considerably. Alas, they do not understand it here and thus, directly or indirectly, promote deterioration and degradation of existing problems, rather than their solution," he added.
Earlier Kosachev told Tass PACE decision to discuss humanitarian rather than political issues of the conflict reflected a certain change in the position of the Assembly compared to the radical stance at the winter session.
"The most important thing today is to help people in the zone of conflict, protect their interests and security," he said and expressed hope that "sooner or later mutually acceptable definitions will be reached."
Kosachev recalled that Georgia and South Ossetia are holding consultations in Geneva promoted by the European Union and OSCE.
"The Council of Europe stays away from the process. That is a direct result of the mistakes, which the Assembly and the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe made in assessing the conflict in South Caucasus and its consequences," he said.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Chechens living in Georgia request refugee status to return home
About 90 Chechens living in Georgia have requested refugee status since January to allow them to return to Chechnya, the head of the Russian republic's migration department said Tuesday.
"Our department has received about 90 applications from Georgian residents requesting visas and other documentation to return to Russia. These are mainly ethnic Chechens living in Georgia," Asu Dadurkayev said.
Dadurkayev cited the recent South Ossetia conflict as a reason for the increase in applications.
Russia and Georgia fought a five-day war in August 2008 after Tbilisi launched an offensive on its former republic of South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control.
"The applications are currently being considered in line with a federal refugee law and procedures," he said.
Dadurkayev said that over 3,000 people had returned to Chechnya from the neighboring North Caucasus republic of Ingushetia since the year start, adding that a total of 350,000 people had returned home since 1999 out of more than 500,000 that fled in the 1990s.
Last week saw a surge in attacks on Russian troops in Chechnya just two days after the Kremlin announced that its 10-year counter-terrorism operation in the troubled region had formally ended.
The attacks prompted Russia's Interior Ministry to announce on Friday that it was reintroducing anti-terrorism operations in three districts in southern Chechnya.
Russian federal troops launched the counter-terrorism operation in Chechnya in the fall of 1999 after a group of militants led by Shamil Basayev and Arab mercenary Khattab invaded neighboring Daghestan. Moscow conducted a separate campaign in Chechnya in 1994-1996.
Russia asks Georgia to return deserter
Russia's General Prosecutor Office has requested Georgia to extradite a Russian sergeant accused of desertion, RIA Novosti reports. Sgt Alexander Glukhov abandoned his military unit and crossed the Georgian border in January.
"We have information that Sgt Glukhov is on Georgian territory now. Therefore, the General Prosecutor Office decided to direct the request to Georgia's Main Prosecutor Office to extradite Sgt Glukhov for the purpose of bringing him to trial," spokesperson for the Russian office Marina Gridneva said on Tuesday.
Sergeant Alexander Glukhov disappeared in January from his unit in South Ossetia and asked for asylum in Georgia. Georgia and Russia fought a war last August over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, breakaway pro-Russian provinces of Georgia. Tbilisi's forces tried to retake it, unleashing a massive counter-attack by Russian troops.
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