Comment of the RSO Foreign Ministry concerning the report of the Swedish parliamentarian Tina Aketoft
January 21, 2013 in Strasbourg started the winter session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), where January 23, the Swedish MP Tina Aketoft made a report "Georgia and Russia: the humanitarian situation in the areas affected by the conflict and war."
Just the title of the report sounds incorrectly, as the question has been shifted in the wrong direction. The military aggression in August 2008 was carried out by Georgia against the Republic of South Ossetia, and one should study the humanitarian consequences of the war not in the context of Georgia and the Russian Federation, but in the context of South Ossetia and Georgia. Thus, the humanitarian nature of the report from the very beginning seems to be a hostage of political ambitions.
The state border between Georgia and South Ossetia is called the administrative, the territory of South Ossetia has been automatically ranked by the PACE member as the occupied part of Georgia, and it is puzzling, because the Republic of South Ossetia is a sovereign state and has nothing to do with Georgia. Parliamentarians of such a respected organization as PACE, should, of course, understand that unless are acknowledged the existing realities in the region, and that is the formation of two sovereign states - the Republic of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, there will not be serious grounds for humanitarian issues. Despite the repeated requests to the PACE to provide the representatives of South Ossetia an opportunity to convey their position, South Ossetia has not yet found a response.
Swedish MP says much about the Georgian refugees, but has not mentioned, according to various sources, over a hundred thousand Ossetians who in 1990-1992 left Georgia and South Ossetia, fleeing the ethnic cleansing and aggression. Most of these people have taken refuge in the Russian Federation, some have become refugees or internally displaced persons in the territory of South Ossetia. The vast majority are still in a state of motion.
Presenting her report to the European parliamentarians, Aketoft noted that during the two years of preparation of the document, she had faced "the problem of access to areas of the conflict."
The speaker, lamenting the fact that for two years she was unable to visit South Ossetia and that "access to it was blocked", most likely, has not deliberately explained the reasons for the failed visit, misleading the world community. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia declares with all responsibility that Mrs. Aketoft received the consent to visit South Ossetia, but then she changed her mind, for unknown reasons, and canceled her visit. South Ossetian authorities have repeatedly stated that they are ready to cooperate with all international organizations that show respect for the people of South Ossetia.
Elementary logic suggests that before making a report, as a minimum, you should thoroughly study the situation by visiting South Ossetia, to work in favor of the objectivity of the document. The PACE rapporteurs at best limit themselves to visiting Tbilisi and getting the unilateral information there, claim it as their own vision.
Tskhinval, January 24, 2013
