Tbilisi has given up its initial hard-line stance over the monitoring of upper Kodori Gorge, and officials are now saying that UN observers will be able to inspect the area starting from August 20.
“We will provide transportation and security to UN observers… We will brief foreign diplomats [accredited in Georgia] about it on Tuesday [August 15],” Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said on August 9.
However, he noted that the Georgian side will “categorically demand the monitoring of lower Kodori Gorge as well.”
The 1994 Moscow agreement between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides on cease-fire and separation of forces does not specify that the monitoring should be held only in upper Kodori gorge.
“A regular patrol of the peace-keeping force and international observers shall be organized concurrently in the Kodori valley,” the agreement reads.
Lower Kodori Gorge is controlled by the secessionist authorities of Abkhazia. Currently, a Russian peacekeeper checkpoint separates Kodori Gorge into upper and lower parts.
“Concentration of military hardware and troops is taking place in lower Kodori gorge,” Bezhuashvili said.
He added that more details about the resumption of monitoring of upper Kodori Gorge will be given after a meeting with foreign diplomats on August 15.
The monitoring of upper Kodori has not been undertaken since June 2003, when UN observers and their interpreter were kidnapped by gunmen while patrolling the gorge. The Abkhaz and Russian sides started pushing for Kodori inspections to resume after the Georgian side sent troops there to crack down on rebel militia groups.
Initially, officials in Tbilisi demanded the international monitoring of Gudauta military base in breakaway Abkhazia in exchange for agreeing to inspections of upper Kodori Gorge. This position was first voiced by Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili on July 31.
But on August 7 Okruashvili made a statement signaling Tbilisi’s changed stance over the issue.
“The Russians will have nominal role [in monitoring of the Kodori gorge]. Monitoring is possible but not with Russian helicopters… we will set the provisions of this monitoring,” Okruashvili said. He did not specify what the “provisions” would be.
He also said that the Georgian law enforcers are currently preparing the ground for the resumption of monitoring in upper Kodori Gorge by heightening security conditions in the area.
Foreign Minister Bezhuashvili said on August 9 that Russia will definitely have its role in the monitoring, as the process will be carried out under the aegis of the UN .
Bezhuashvili was speaking at a news conference that was held after meeting with Georgia’s Defense, Interior and State Ministers to discuss the government’s coordinated actions in respect to Kodori Gorge and the situation in the South Ossetian conflict zone.
Meanwhile, Georgian Deputy Defense Minister Mamuka Kudava met with a group of foreign diplomats accredited in Georgia on August 9 and briefed them on the current situation in Kodori Gorge.
He told reporters after the meeting that the situation is calm in the area, although “minor provocations” by the Russian peacekeeping forces have taken place.
“Currently, there are two engineer platoons of the Defense Ministry to assist in the construction of bridges,” Kudava said.