The authors of the draft-proposals the settlement of humanitarian issues in South Ossetia and Abkhazia do not take into account the fact that these republics are the sovereign states and are not part of Georgia, stated the South Ossetian President’s Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement Boris Chochiev.
According to him, the draft paper was submitted to the South Ossetian side on October 1, during the visit of Geneva Co-chairs to South Ossetia.
"We received the draft from the Co-Chairs of the second working group in the Geneva Discussions on the settlement of humanitarian issues, but 99% of the paper is politics, and only 1% refers to the humanitarian issues", said Chochiev.
In this regard, Chochiev stressed that the South Ossetian side has an entirely different position, and it has other proposals, which it would voice in Geneva.
"The South Ossetian, Abkhaz and Russian delegations in Geneva adhere strictly to the requirements of the agreements reached between Medvedev and Sarkozy, which clearly states the need for a legally binding document guaranteeing non-use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia", said the Head of the South Ossetian Delegation to the Geneva Discussions.
Chochiev noted that in spite of the fact that the South Ossetian delegation has been making every effort, it was possible to take slight steps forward to influence the minds of international organizations and European structures.
"First, Georgia refused to admit that it was the aggressor country. The International Fact-Finding Mission of the European Union into the events of August 2008 led by Heidi Tagliavini, proved otherwise. Then, they denied that Georgian law enforcement bodies were involved in the disappearance of the citizens of South Ossetia (Khachirov, Pliev and Khugaev), although now there is a proof. Georgia still refuses to give legally binding guarantees not to use force against South Ossetia. However, before the main document, that is the agreement on the nonuse of force is signed, we can not consider the second question – the return of refugees”, said Chochiev.
He emphasized the fact that the U.S. and other countries supporting Georgia, continue to persuade the leadership of this country that there is no need to sign any agreement on the nonuse of force and they continue to arm, equip and train the Georgians.
"The only thing we have moved forward is the creation of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism. But this format is too politicized; so far, no significant results have been achieved. It is a Mechanism of regular meetings and it should yield results ", stressed Chochiev.
Boris Chochiev believes that despite the difficulties encountered the Geneva format does have its advantages.
"It is positive that international organizations slowly start to change their opinion", concluded Chochiev.
