...

Ceasefire Agreement under Threat of Violation: OSCE Chairman-in-Office

Politics Materials 23 August 2008 11:04 (UTC +04:00)

Georgia, Tbilisi, 23 August /corr. Trend N.Kirtskhalia / A group of 20 observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which will be headed by the Vice-Colonel Steven Young, will arrive in Georgia by the end of this week, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Finnish Foreign Minister, Alexander Stubb, said in Tbilisi during the joint briefing with the Foreign Minister of Georgia, Ekaterina Tkeshelashvili, on 22 August.

"Young already has work experience in South Ossetia, and I think that our observers can completely control the situation in the zone of Georgian- Ossetian conflict and present," Stubb said.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office expressed concerns by the implementation of the cease-fire agreement. "This agreement is under the threat of violation, and now it is necessary to ensure withdrawal of the Russian troops from Georgia. I hope that our observers will help fulfill this task," said Stubb.

"We also should bring the settlement of the conflict to the international arena. The United Nations, NATO, the European Union, OSCE, Russia and other organizations must discuss the question what international peacemaking forces must come to the conflicting zone, what political process will be fixed, what long-term outlook, and together think about how to ensure stability in the region," OSCE Chairman-in-Office. The Foreign Minister of Georgia expressed confidence that in the near future the number of OSCE observers will grow. "First of all, we need to implement ceasefire agreement so that Russia would not obtain the possibility to keep its forces in Georgia. After de-escalation, the key task is to restore the territorial integrity of Georgia," she said.

The correspondent can be contacted at: [email protected]

Latest

Latest