Council of Europe Secretary General Walter Schwimmer expressed alarm over the recent developments in Georgia’s defiant Adjarian Autonomy.
“Just as the European Union is celebrating the enlargement from 15 to 25 States – all of them, of course, Council of Europe members – it is shocking to hear that in another Council of Europe State, Georgia, bridges are exploded because the central and the local [Adjarian] authorities have lost their ability to dialogue”, said Walter Schwimmer on May 2 in Strasbourg.
“I strongly appeal both to President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili and Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze to do their utmost to stop this extremely dangerous escalation. A bridge can be re-built, but even one person shot dead can never be brought back to life”, the Secretary General said.
“I reiterate once again that the Council of Europe stands ready to facilitate dialogue and to help Georgia develop a sound legal basis for the relations between the central authorities and the autonomous regions. The time is not to blow bridges; the time is to build bridges”.