Georgia, 2002

Allow me to

begin by extending my warmest congratulations to

you –– my colleague Mr. Jan Kavan — on his election

as President of the fifty-seventh session of the General

Assembly.

I cannot but remember the tragedy of 11

September 2001, the anniversary of which we

commemorated just a few days ago. That bloody act

committed here in New York, the host city of the

United Nations Headquarters, was directed not only

against the United States but also against all the rest of

us, the entire civilized world that the United Nations

symbolizes. Georgia has been part of the anti-terrorist

coalition from the very first day. I would like to assure

the Assembly that Georgia has been doing everything

in its power to be a dedicated partner in this struggle

and that it will maintain the spirit of cooperation until

the very, successful end.

The problem of international terrorism is complex

and multidimensional, and I had intended to share our

views and thoughts on that. However, the recent

complications in Georgian-Russian relations have

compelled me to shift the focus of my address. I am

referring to the mounting aggressive attacks on my

country's sovereignty emanating from the Russian

authorities and media. On a daily basis, Georgia is

being accused of harbouring terrorists, aiding fighters

and fueling the conflict in Chechnya. This is a clear

attempt to create an enemy image of Georgia in

Russia's public opinion. Here I have to state clearly:

this is utter nonsense.

We believe that the pressure exerted on my

country under the pretext of these absurd accusations is

being used by Russia as a smokescreen to hide its own

failure to cope with the conflict in Chechnya. As

President Shevardnadze stated in his letter, transmitted

by our Permanent Representative in identical letters

addressed to the Secretary-General and to the President

of the Security Council, “It is hard to imagine a clearer

example of confusing the cause and the effect”.

(A/57/408, annex)

The truth is that this tragic chain of events started

with the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, in which

Chechen fighters, citizens of the Russia Federation,

had been initially recruited, trained and sent to fight.

Then, all of this boomeranged in the Chechen conflict

against Russia, when those fighters turned their arms

against their own patrons. As a result of two Chechen

wars, Georgia has had to face an influx of thousands of

Chechen refugees, and armed gangs of criminals forced

into Georgia, followed by insistence from the Russian

side on permitting a military operation against them on

Georgian soil. All this meant a spillover of the endless

and bloody war into Georgia, which we certainly could

not allow. We are able to take, and are already taking,

all necessary measures to uproot any possibility of the

use of our territory by terrorists.

Although it is evident that the problem of the

Pankisi Gorge of Georgia is a side effect of the war in

Chechnya, and not vice versa, the violations of airspace

and attacks against the sovereign territory of Georgia

by Russian military jets and helicopters have acquired

a permanent character. The most recent air strike took

place on 23 August 2002, causing civilian casualties.

Georgia has irrefutable documentary and factual

evidence of the attack, which has also been confirmed

by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe border monitoring operation.

Despite the clear evidence, the Russian military

leadership cynically denies these facts, trying to avoid

an objective investigation in spite of their official

statements that one will be carried out. Moreover,

unfolding hysteria in Russia on the issue of the Pankisi

Gorge has culminated in statements by Russia's

President and its military openly threatening Georgia

with aggression. These actions not only gravely

endanger peace and security in the region, but also

undermine the efforts of the global anti-terrorist

coalition to fight against this menace.

What is at stake here is not only the sovereignty

and independence of Georgia, but also the very

fundamentals of the current international system. That

is why we have brought this issue to this high forum.

As I mentioned, Georgian special forces, aided by

our friends, are conducting an operation to restore law

and order in the Pankisi Gorge and the surrounding

area. We already have achieved positive results and are

ready to cooperate with all concerned parties, including

Russia. Moreover, we are open to all international

transparency measures.

We call on the Russian side to reconsider their

approach and, as President Shevardnadze stressed in

his letter, we appeal “to the leadership of Russia and

the President himself to find a common tongue [and] to

rise above the existing problems”. (ibid.) We strongly

believe that there is no other way out.

Speaking about the conflicts in the Caucasus, I

would like to draw attention to the most painful issue:

the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, where our joint

efforts have not yet been successful. I believe that the

major mistake made by the international organizations

was to give the so-called Abkhaz authorities an

opportunity to engage them in endless and absurd

disputes because of which the bases of the peace

process were ignored.

First, there is Georgia, a full-fledged member of

the international community, whose internationally

recognized territory is being violated by the non-

legitimate, pseudo-Abkhaz regime based on hostility

and ethnic cleansing. No positive results can be

achieved if the two sides are treated in the same

manner, if they are viewed as equally responsible and if

a policy of pleasing both of them is pursued.

Secondly, there is the fate of the more than

300,000 refugees and internally displaced persons who

have been ousted from their homeland and deprived of

their basic human rights, and whose prospect of return

has for the past eight years failed to go beyond fruitless

discussions. The years of ineffective negotiations merit

only those conclusions.

I must excuse myself before the authors of the

most recent Security Council resolution on this matter,

Council resolution 1427 (2002), but I cannot agree with

the softness of their statements. Even though the de

facto Abkhaz leadership completely ignored and

categorically refused to receive the document, “Basic

Principles for the Distribution of Competences between

Tbilisi and Sukhumi”, elaborated by the Group of

Friends of the Secretary-General, the arrogance of the

separatist regime was responded to in the resolution

only by a slight reproach.

To our surprise, the most recent report of the

Secretary-General, based on information from the

United Nations Human Rights Office in Abkhazia,

Georgia, points to “a modest improvement in the

human rights situation”. (S/2002/742, para. 23) It is

difficult to understand what kind of improvement is

meant when the separatists insist that Georgian

children should study Georgian as a foreign language at

Georgian schools in Abkhazia, Georgia.

The tragedy in Abkhazia, Georgia, where

hundreds of thousands, mostly ethnic Georgians, have

been forcibly expelled from their homes, has numerous

times been rightfully assessed by the Organization for

Security and Cooperation in Europe as ethnic

cleansing. Thus, we can only be astonished that the

United Nations is so reluctant to make the same

statement. This is the more so as the Abkhaz side has

never complied with any of the 28 Security Council

resolutions adopted since 1993. I hope members would

agree that such inconsistency only strengthens the

separatists' self-confidence and increases their belief in

their impunity.

In 1994 we made an unprecedented decision by

asking the United Nations to permit the commencement

of a peacekeeping operation engaging the

8

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), whereby

the “collective” peacekeeping forces included only a

Russian military contingent. The reason for this was

the complete absence of other alternatives at that time.

Regrettably, eight years of this operation have made

clear that the Russian peacekeepers, acting under the

CIS aegis, fail to ensure the security that is so

necessary for the return of the internally displaced

persons and refugees to their homes in Abkhazia,

Georgia. In fact, the peacekeepers have established an

artificial border between the territory controlled by the

separatists and the rest of Georgia.

On that basis, we think it is high time to

transform substantively the ongoing peacekeeping

operation. In particular, we are in favour of introducing

a civil police component and creating a joint Georgian-

Abkhaz administration in the Gali district under

international auspices. Considering the solid United

Nations experience in the establishment and

management of international police forces, we have

high expectations of the Assembly's support.

We strongly believe that more active involvement

of the international community, and primarily of the

United Nations, is indispensable. We understand that

the United Nations is currently involved in several

peacekeeping operations. Irrespective of that fact, we

hope that some resources can be found to ensure more

active United Nations engagement in the resolution of

the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia.

Speaking about the ineffectiveness of

international efforts in resolving the Abkhaz conflict,

we should admit that the lack of unanimity within the

Group of Friends of the Secretary-General remains a

serious impeding factor. That is why it took almost two

years just to win consensus on the so-called Boden

document. Moreover, we are repeatedly faced with

actions by one of the members of the Group that are

utterly inconsistent with the general approach.

At the end of 2000, the Russian Federation

introduced a visa regime with Georgia. But contrary to

the elementary norms of international law, the right to

visa-free movement has been maintained for the

secessionist regions of Georgia: the Abkhazia and

Tskhinvali regions. Numerous protests by the Georgian

side against this discriminatory decision have been

simply ignored. Moreover, this was followed by the

mass issue of Russian passports to the local population

of these two separatist regions, and their mass

conversion to Russian citizenship through simplified

procedures. Here a question arises: how do these

actions, named “legal expansion” even by the Russian

media, contribute to a peaceful resolution of these

conflicts?

I have to reaffirm that a peaceful resolution of the

conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia, remains the only

acceptable option for my Government. But as I have

already mentioned, regrettably, the Abkhaz side has

categorically refused to consider the document that

determines the political status of Abkhazia within the

State of Georgia. Therefore, we have to admit that the

entire peace process in Abkhazia, Georgia, is as much

in jeopardy as it is in need of drastic changes. We call

on the United Nations to address this problem.

Finally, United Nations reform has long been a

topic of discussion. It is unfortunate that work in that

regard has not progressed beyond an exchange of ideas.

Too much time has been devoted to discussions on

Security Council enlargement, the increase of the

number of its permanent and non-permanent members,

the change of procedures related to the right of veto

and the adoption of joint decisions. Regrettably, there

have been no practical results so far.

Here I would like to stress that Georgia reiterates

its full support for the speedy realization of the

aforesaid changes. We strongly support granting

permanent membership to Germany and Japan, as well

as the overall enlargement of the Security Council. We

also insist on increased transparency in the work of the

Council.

The world community is currently facing

numerous challenges which require more decisive and

radical steps. And I cherish the hope that this forum

will be courageous enough to make them without delay.