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28th Mar 2024

EU ministers urge peace on Georgia mission

  • The Caucasus region - Europe's unstable eastern fringe (Photo: Wikipedia)

The EU has stepped up pressure on Moscow and Tbilisi to avoid any further escalation of tension over Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Foreign ministers from five EU member states - Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden - travelled to Georgia on Monday (12 May) following Russian claims that Georgia is preparing to invade Abkhazia.

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Slovenia's Dmitrij Rupel, speaking on behalf of the EU presidency, described the situation in the Caucasus region as "a cause for concern" and asked the two countries to "do their best to prevent any destabilisation."

In addition, Mr Rupel reiterated the union's "full commitment to the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia" and to "a peaceful resolution" of the frozen conflicts.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia have been outside Georgian government control for over a decade after breaking away in bloody wars in the early 1990s.

The two regions maintain close ties with Moscow, which has granted Russian passports to many of their inhabitants and keeps some 2,000 peacekeeping troops in Abkhazia and 1,000 troops in South Ossetia.

Tbilisi has accused the Russian army of supplying weapons and logistical support to the rebels, with Abkhaz forces claiming to have shot down seven "Georgian unmanned spy planes" in recent days. Russia on 1 May also announced plans to send an extra 1,000 soldiers to Abkhazia.

"What is being carried out is indisputably an act of annexation and a prelude to occupation," Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said, after hosting the quintet of EU foreign ministers.

Lithuania clears way for EU-Russia pact

The Slovene EU presidency on Sunday in Lithuania also announced that the last obstacle has been removed to opening EU-Russia negotiations on a new "Partnership and Cooperation" pact.

"We have reached a good agreement, which respects the needs of Lithuania while also taking into account the interests of the EU as a whole," Mr Rupel said in Vilnius.

The Baltic country lifted its veto on the EU-Russia talks after having secured that the EU negotiating mandate - outlining what the European Commission's manoeuvring space will be during the talks with Moscow - will reflect Vilnius' worries in the field of energy, judicial cooperation and frozen conflicts in Georgia and Moldova.

"It is very important that Lithuania's legitimate and just requests have been heard and understood by the EU presiding country and our neighbours. These requests reflect the experience and expectations of the people of Lithuania," Lithuanian president Valdas Adamkus said.

Lithuanian foreign minister Petras Vaitiekunas cited "the renewal of [oil] supplies via the Druzhba pipeline" - disrupted by Russia in 2006 - and "progress in the solution of frozen conflicts in Georgia and Moldova" as pre-conditions for successful EU-Russia talks.

Russia will also be asked to better cooperate in two criminal investigations involving Lithuania's historical wounds - a Soviet Army attack on the buildings of the National Radio and Television in 1991, leaving 14 people dead and over 700 injured and a massacre at the Medininkai border post the same year.

The mandate for the European Commission is expected to be formally adopted by all 27 EU foreign ministers on 26 May, with negotiations on a treaty to be launched at a June EU-Russia summit in Siberia.

A new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement - covering areas such as the economy, external security or justice and home affairs - will replace a 1997 agreement, which expired in 2007 and now is automatically extended on an annual basis.

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