The Georgian State Minster for conflict resolution issues, Goga Khaindrava, held talks with representatives from Abkhazia in the breakaway region’s capital, Sukhumi on May 20th and kept within the framework of the UN-sponsored negotiations over security guarantees in the region.
These talks, chaired by Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Georgia, Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, mainly focused on guarantees of non-resumption of hostilities in the conflict zone.
Goga Khaindrava, who will meet with de facto Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba, will try to assuage recent fears on the side of the Abkhazians over possible escalations in the region. After control was restored by the central government in Tbilisi over Adjara in early May, Sukhumi expressed concerns that Tbilisi might destabilize the situation in Abkhazia.
Meanwhile, President Saakashvili said on Wednesday that he will make a special statement concerning the Abkhazian and South Ossetian conflict settlements and the “reunification of Georgia on May 26 – the Georgian Independence Day.”
“We intend to reunite Georgia only through peaceful means. This is the major task of our government. Maybe, someone abroad will not like it, but everyone should know that the Georgian authorities will continue to work in this direction,” President Saakashvili said at a news briefing on May 19.
He stressed once again on May 19 that restoration of Tbilisi’s control over Adjara was “the first case in a post-Soviet world of eradication of separatism through peaceful means.”
“And we are not going to stop on this,” he added.
It is likely that President Saakashvili will unveil the details of the concepts of the settlement of the Abkhazian conflict developed by a group of independent experts during ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze’s administration, but submitted for consideration to the Georgian National Security Council after the new authorities took over power in the country.
Legal expert and former Deputy Justice Minister Kote Kublashvili, who is one of the co-authors of the concept, disclosed the following key points of the proposal in an interview with Civil Georgia:
• Creation of a two-member federation state – Georgia/Abkhazia
• Defense and Foreign policy will be under the Georgian Federation’s central government’s control, while the law enforcement would be under the full control of the local authorities
• Parliament in Abkhazia will be composed by a majority of ethnic Abkhazians
• Knowledge of the Abkhaz language would be mandatory for any person who runs for Abkhazia President.
• Unlike the rest of Georgia, GEL banknotes and coins in Abkhazia would depict Abkhaz national symbols in both the Abkhaz and Georgian languages
But the Abkhaz side has already indicated that Sukhumi is not going to compromise over Abkhazia’s status. The Prime Minister of the breakaway republic, Raul Khajimba, said that Sukhumi would not accept any compromise with the Georgian side over Abkhazia’s status in the Georgian state.
“Abkhazia’s status as an independent state is confirmed by the Abkhaz Republic’s constitution and is not subject to reconsideration,” Khajimba told the Interfax news agency on May 18th.
In his latest report issued in April over the situation in Abkhazia, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan cited “slow progress” in the resolution of the conflict and called for the Abkhazian side to give up its uncompromising stance and start talks with Georgia regarding the breakaway region’s status, particularly in its refusal to discuss the distribution of “competences” between the two sides.
The document, which was developed by former UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to Georgia, Deter Boden, considers a wide autonomy for Abkhazia within the Georgian state. But the Abkhaz side has continually rejected the possibility of talks over this document.
Georgian officials say that the recent warming up of relations between Russia and Georgia is a positive sign for Tbilisi. Secretary of the Russian National Security Council, Igor Ivanov, paid a brief visit to Georgia on May 17th. According to official information, Abkhazia was one of the issues discussed during the talks with the Georgian leadership.
But skeptics say a breakthrough, even a minor one, would be impossible, at least before October, when Abkhazia intends to elect a new leader, as current, ailing, de facto President Vladislav Ardzinba’s term of office expires this year.