A delegation of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), headed by the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Knut Vollebaek arrived in South Ossetia.
In Tskhinval, the delegation met with the Foreign Minister of South Ossetia Murat Dzhioev. The meeting was also attended by South Ossetian President's Plenipotentiary for Post-Conflict Settlement Boris Chochiev and the Plenipotentiary for Human Rights David Sanakoev.
Murat Dzhioyev assured the OSCE representative that they would be given an opportunity to see the process ongoing in South Ossetia, including the situation with national minorities.
"You will have the opportunity to see Leningor district of South Ossetia, which is often mentioned in conversations with representatives of international organizations", said Dzhioev.
He noted that South Ossetia had cooperated with the OSCE since 1992, including Vollebaek himself.
"Being at that time, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, you paid much attention to the Georgian-Ossetian conflict settlement", said the Foreign Minister of South Ossetia.
However, he stressed that during the Georgian aggression in August 2008, the OSCE did not do its best.
"The situation had been aggravation for quite a long time, and we had repeatedly appealed to the OSCE, in order that the organization and its member countries had influenced the Georgian authorities to defuse tensions. Unfortunately, our appeals were not heard. Despite our appeals, the OSCE observers did not inform the decision-makers of the organization on the evolving situation here, " said the Minister.
He recalled that the report of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg made it clear that the kidnapping of three young residents of South Ossetia in October 2008 was committed by the Georgian security forces, and the then OSCE monitoring officers got to know that immediately.
"Unfortunately, this fact has not been voiced anywhere", stated Dzhioev.
Nevertheless, he said, South Ossetia considered the OSCE as an important international organization.
"Immediately after the events of August 2008, we appealed to the decision-making bodies of the OSCE with a proposal to consider our further cooperation, taking into account the position of South Ossetia as a recognized state. Although this issue is still unresolved, we can not exclude the possibility that in the near future, the OSCE considers the opportunity to work directly with South Ossetia ", said Dzhioev.
In his turn, Knut Vollebaek said that as the OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities, he took a neutral position, so he had the opportunity to work in the entities that the OSCE member countries are not recognized as sovereign states. Bearing in the mind the fact that today's conflicts are largely based on inter-ethnic tensions, his primary goal was to prevent them, especially through following the social and political life of the conflict regions.
The program of the visit of the OSCE delegation to South Ossetia included meetings with representatives of national minorities, members of the Parliament of South Ossetia, as well as visits to Tskhinval and Leningor Districts.
