OSCE permanent council discusses extension of its mission to Georgia
June 5th, 2009 0:30
The session of the OSCE permanent council has been underway with sharp debates - Russian deputy foreign minister Gregory Karasin has already delivered his speech and proposed the organization member states the Russian model of the OSCE mission to Georgia. He said the organization should send independent missions to South Ossetia and Georgia.
The response to this proposal was very sharp not only from the representative of Georgia, but also from the envoys of the United States, the Czech Republic and Slovenia.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Samuel Zhbogar said the extension of the OSCE mission to Georgia was vital.
`Slovenia is concerned that the agreement on the OSCE mission presence in Georgia has not been reached so far, though this is very important for the stability of the country,` the Slovenian minister said.
US envoy to the OSCE in his turn reiterated support to Georgia`s territorial integrity and stated that the organization should have one mission to Georgia and South Ossetia region.
`The United States recognizes the territorial integrity of Georgia and believes that the mission should be to Georgia and not to South Ossetia and Abkhazia separately,` the US envoy said.
Georgia`s ambassador to the OSCE Paata Gafrindashvili reminded the members of the organizations that Russia was still ignoring the commitment of the international agreements signed after the August war and urged the organization members to force Russia fulfill the obligations taken by the August 12 ceasefire agreement.