OSCE wants to return to Georgia’s breakaway regions
Tweet 
Share
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is looking for a way to restore its observer mission in the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia after being snubbed out following the 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
OSCE top official, Secretary General Lamberto Zannier, met Georgia’s Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili in Tbilisi earlier today and discussed the OSCE’s intention to resume observing in breakaway Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.
The meeting was held in the framework of Zannier’s three-day official visit to Georgia.
The official spoke to local media at a special press conference after their meeting. Zannier said the organisation was using "all its leverages”, particularly dialogue, to solve problems in Georgia’s breakaway regions.
"But solving political and other problems would be easier if our mission were presented at the place,” the OSCE top official added.
OSCE officially closed its observer mission in Georgia after the Russia-Georgia war in the summer of 2008.
The OSCE Monitoring Mission in Georgia was established in Tbilisi in 1992. Its initial mandate was to promote constructive negotiation between Georgian and breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetian) sides. The mandate also covered human rights, freedom of media and economic and environmental dimensions.
However after the 2008 war, Russia rejected extending the Mission's mandate.
At today’s press conference Zannier also expressed the OSCE’s concern about Russian military training exercises in Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.
He said these kinds of moves did not contribute to peace in the region, and he called on Russia to adhere to the ceasefire agreement signed shortly after the August war.
After the press conference, the OSCE Secretary General travelled to Khurvaleti, a small settlement in eastern Georgia inhabited by people who were internally displaced after the 2008 conflict.
Georgia’s breakaway regions will be in focus when an OSCE high official visits Georgia this week.
The current situation in Georgia’s occupied territories, regional security and cooperation with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly were heavily discussed at today’s meeting between Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Secretary General of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Spencer Oliver.
A high official from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is on his way to Georgia for a four day official visit to discuss the prospects of future cooperation.
The Government of Georgia is welcoming the role of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) for supporting the country’s ongoing judicial reforms, following the release of a report outlining the current state of the court system.
The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) offers concrete recommendations to criminal justice actors on how fair trial rights and the independence of the judiciary can be further strengthened in both law and practice.
Georgia’s Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili has summed up Georgia’s presence at this week's OSCE Ministerial in Switzerland and emphasized several Georgia-related issues she brought up at the event.
Georgia’s Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili is rubbing shoulders with top international officials at the latest Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council, including United States (US) Secretary of State John Kerry.
Georgia’s Foreign Minister is in the Swiss city of Basel to take part in the 21st Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial, which is due to be attended by some 50 foreign ministers.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) will hold its annual parliamentary assembly in Georgia in 2016.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Political Affairs Committee are supporting amendments to a draft resolution that calls for Russia to comply with the 2008 cease-fire agreement and de-occupation of Georgia’s territories.
Moscow claims Tbilisi "persistently refuses to sign an agreement about a non-use of force” so it was forced to deploy Russian guards near the so-called border between Georgia and breakaway Abkhazia.
One of Europe’s top human rights’ promoters has visited Khurvaleti, a Georgian village located at the border of Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) and spoken with people who were forced from their homes by conflict.
A delegation of the OSCE’s main human rights body is set to visit Georgia to learn about the difficult life of those living in villages that border the occupation line.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) appreciates the Georgian Government’s "very important step” of inviting OSCE experts to Georgia to monitor the trials of ex-senior officials.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has held a fruitful meeting with a high official from the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) today in Tbilisi.
All cases of human rights violation in Georgia’s occupied regions have been collated into one document for the global community to review.
Permanent representatives of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are holding their first meetings in Georgia since July 2008.
Permanent representatives of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have faced a harsh reality when they visited a village along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) and the rest of Georgia today.
Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgi Kvirikashvili is in Serbia taking part in the 22nd Ministerial Council of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili today revealed the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Parliamentary Assembly’s 25th annual session will be held in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi on July 1-5, 2016.
The delegation from the Parliamentary Assembly (PA) of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is in Georgia to discuss how Georgia was preparing for an international OSCE meeting scheduled for later this year.
The world’s largest security-oriented inter-governmental organisation that specialises in conflict prevention, crisis management and political negotiations is creating an in-house team to regularly discuss issues related to Georgia.
The Council of Europe has today adopted an important decision for Georgia in which the organisation reiterates its unequivocal support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country within its internationally recognised borders.