SECESSIONIST SPEAKERS MEET DUMA DEPUTIES
Eka Basilaia
The Messenger, Georgia
July 6 2006
Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) condemned a July 4 meeting
of officials of the breakaway republics of Abkhazia, South Ossetia
and Transnistria in Moscow, saying Russia has been applying "double
standards."
Speakers of the parliaments of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transnistria
signed a bilateral agreement on cooperation on July 4, Russian news
agency Rosbalt.ru reported.
"We will sign agreements on cooperation between our legislative
bodies," Abkhaz parliament speaker Nugzar Ashuba stated Monday after
signing the agreement, noting "Cooperation means the exchange of
experience and consultative work.
"Our parliaments have been cooperating effectively for a long time.
These agreements will lay juridical foundations for these contacts,"
Ashuba said.
The agreement highlights the importance of "strong cooperation"
among the unrecognized republics in respect to the things that all
of them have in common.
According to the agreement special commissions will be set up within
the parliaments to promote cooperation. Also the secessionists plan
to organize inter-parliamentary forums and yearly bilateral meetings.
Apart from the de facto officials from the three secessionist
republics, representatives of the Russian Federation’s State Duma
were also in attendance at the event. The vice speaker of the Duma,
Sergei Baburing even expressed his approval of the event.
"All Duma factions support the brother nations. The republics have more
than once proved the consistency of their statehood and showed they
can be a stronghold and a hope for their peoples. Enhancing the links
between their parliaments and the Duma will serve the interests of
politics and people as well," Baburing stated, according to Rosbalt.ru.
However, the MFA considers their active involvement in the process as a
"regrettable fact" that can be described as "another political farce,"
putting the Georgian-Russian relationships under further tension.
"Their pro-separatist rhetoric raises serious doubts about the Russian
side’s support for Georgia’s territorial integrity [which has been]
articulated at various, including the highest levels, but carries
only a declaratory character and has nothing in common with the
actual political course pursued by Russia with respect to Georgia,"
the statement released by the MFA on July 4 stated.
According to the press statement Russia’s use of double standards is
"totally inadmissible in civilized inter-state relations" and could
lead the peace processes into deadlock. All this, the statement
reported, might put under question Russia’s ability to "qualify as
an unbiased mediator in the conflict resolution processes."
According to the rabidly pro-secessionist Russian news agency
Regnum.ru, which is not noted for its unbiased or well sourced
information, one more conflict region located on the territory of
the former Soviet Union the Nagorno-Karabakh self-proclaimed republic
intends to join the coalition "Community of Democracy and the Rights
of Peoples" established by presidents of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and
Transnistria. The decision was voiced by the president of South Ossetia
Eduard Kokoity at a meeting with the Java district administration, the
news agency reported. This has not been confirmed by Karabakh sources.
The coalition was set up at a meeting on June 14 in Sokhumi, the
meeting ended with signing a joint declaration on common activities
and cooperation. The de facto leaders also issued a statement on the
Russian peacekeeping forces, expressing their high esteem for the
Russian peacekeepers’ activities in the conflict zones and demanding
that they should not be withdrawn. It remains to be seen what benefits
Nagorno-Karabakh would derive from joining this coalition, as there
are no peacekeepers on its territory.