Meeting of the Caucasus Speakers

(Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, July 15, 2002) – Parliamentary Chairman of four Caucasian countries – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Russia is held in St. Petersburg, Russia on July 15.

The conflicts in the region will be in the top of the agenda during the meeting. It is anticipated that Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze will push the issue of granting Russian citizenship to the residents of breakaway Abkhazia. Nino Burjanadze has already criticized Russia for the move at the OSCE Parliamentary assembly in Berlin.

Sergei Mironov, Chairman of the Council of Russian Federation (upper chamber of the Parliament) is the initiator of the meeting of the four speakers. In May he visited Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and proposed his Caucasian counterparts to hold the regular meetings.