Georgia, Tbilisi, May 9 / Trend N.Kirtskhalia /
The issue of military operations in Georgia in August 2008 does not appear on the agenda of the ministerial meeting of the Council of Europe (CoE), Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze told reporters on Thursday.
The ministerial meeting of the CoE will be held in Strasbourg on May 16.
As the governor of Kakheti, Georgia's former ambassador to the Council of Europe, Zurab Chiaberashvili said it is the first time since 2008, that European ministers will not discuss the issue. Chiaberashvili regards it as a "serious defeat" of Georgian diplomacy.
Panjikidze stressed that "this is not of decisive importance".
"The Council of Europe has other mechanisms where this issue will be put on the agenda. It was not discussed at the ministerial meeting held in 2011 in Istanbul," Panjikidze said.
Panjikidze also stressed that the Georgian side will succeed in all matters relating to the country's interests at the upcoming ministerial meeting.
Large scale military actions were launched in South Ossetia on August 8, 2008. Later, Russian troops occupied Tskhinvali and expelled the Georgian military.
Russia recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in late August. In response, Tbilisi broke diplomatic relations with Moscow and has called the two unrecognised republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied territories.