In High Places

Evgeniya Novikova

International discussions in Geneva have yielded no result. Three scandals launched by the hot Caucasians were the reason. However, both Europe and America have finally realized what kind of an ally they received from Georgia and Russia has understood what friends she gained in Abkhazia and S. Ossetia

Head of Russian delegation Grigory Karasin

Photo: AP

On Public

There were three scandals at the Geneva meeting, the press has found out.

Representatives of Abkhazia and S. Ossetia were not invited to the first plenary session and just as Russia had warned before she refused to participate in it.

The organizers planned the second session as an extended one with all sides participating: the OSCE, the UN, the EU, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, Russia, Georgia, and the US. However, when Georgians saw representatives of Tskhinval and Sukhum, they left the hall of sessions. The discussion was held without Georgia but with Russia and the two newly recognized republics. Everything seemed all right but all of a sudden, the two republics got offended because they were not feeling respect in Geneva. Head of Abkhazia’s Foreign Ministry Sergei Shamba said that he did not like the status he and his Ossetian colleague received at the negotiations. According to Shamba, they wished to participate as recognized independent states. Moreover, he insisted that Georgian language be expelled from the list of official languages of the meeting.

It is worth mentioning that both S. Ossetian and Abkhaz delegations arrived in Geneva as members of the Russian delegation because apart from Russia and Nicaragua nobody had recognized their independence. The West insisted that the two countries could not be independent in the format of the meeting.

Having outlined their position, Sukhum and Tskhinval delegations walked out of the hall of sessions. Head of Russian delegation Grigory Karasin, who had tried to bring Shamba to reason, was left no choice but to beg pardon for his protégés before UN, EU and OSCE delegations.

A Lie

Even before the end of the consultations Georgia’s President Mikhail Saakashvili told the press that Russia had wrecked the talks. “Just like the USSR used to do during the cold war era, Russia abandoned the talks,” Saakashvili said. He failed to mention that Georgia had left the process even earlier than that.

Addressing a briefing soon after the talks, Karasin pointed out that Saakashvili’s statement was “unforgivably hasty for a responsible politician,” adding “it was a lie into the bargain.”

Room at the Top

The organizers of the meeting, the UN, the EU and the OSCE looked bewildered after the discussion: they never expected a scandal. However, UN Secretary General’s special representative for Georgia Johan Verbeke noted: “The process has started. All parties involved arrived in Geneva and received an opportunity of expressing their viewpoint.” EU special representative for Georgia Pierre Morel simply stated that the next meeting of the interested parties is likely to take place in Geneva on November 18.

The talks produced a lasting impression on the diplomats. However, they were useful too: Europe and the US saw what a scandalous partner Georgia was; Russia saw what scandalous partners S. Ossetia and Abkhazia were. The understanding will certainly help all the participants of the peacekeeping process.