EU, NATO Play Catch-Up In Georgia

EU, NATO Play Catch-Up In Georgia

September 15, 2008

Russian and NATO envoys are pressing their cases on opposing sides of Russian-imposed buffer zones around breakaway republics in Georgia, where the West has been playing catch-up since Russian forces routed their Georgian counterparts in five days of intense fighting in early August.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is in South Ossetia after kicking off a two-day visit in Abkhazia on September 14 to signal Moscow's determination to follow through on its recent recognition of those separatist republics.

At the start of his trip, Lavrov issued a stinging rebuke of NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who last week cited "fundamental differences" with Moscow and called Russia's show of force in Georgia "inappropriate" and its recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia unwise.

Two gatherings of European and other Western representatives are aimed at countering Moscow's message and further showing Western support for Georgia.

In Georgia proper, de Hoop Scheffer and ambassadors from all 26 NATO member states are in the Georgian capital to demonstrate their resolve to loosen Russia's grip on its tiny neighbor.

The Tbilisi meeting was scheduled ahead of Russia's war with Georgia, but it has taken on greater significance as a result of Moscow's first invasion of a neighboring country since the breakup of the Soviet Union.

The agenda has also been amended to include the inaugural session of a NATO-Georgia Commission to oversee Tbilisi's membership bid. The commission is a response to the recent hostilities that members hope will send a message to Moscow while allowing them to avoid internal disagreement over further NATO expansion.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, EU foreign ministers are expected to approve a deployment of up to 200 cease-fire observers to Georgia, although ministers are likely to defer the potentially contentious issue of whether or not those observers will also monitor events in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"The first commitment is to deploy, before the beginning of the month of October, a number of observers, the 200 observers in order to get the complete withdrawal from that part [of Georgia] of the Russian force," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said ahead of the meeting.

Under a deal struck between Russia and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the current EU presidency, Russia was to pull back its forces from outside South Ossetia and Abkhazia within 10 days of the deployment of the international monitors.

Solana also made it clear that the EU is ready to also consider deploying the monitors in other areas of disputed territory if need be. "We are ready and disposed to go beyond those commitments into other places, and we have to see how the situation evolves on the ground," Solana said.

Last week, de Hoop Scheffer criticized EU negotiators, suggesting Sarkozy gave away too much in his talks with Moscow.

Western governments have accused Russia of failing to comply with cease-fire terms since an initial agreement on August 12.

Moscow has maintained troops in unilaterally declared security zones, and last week said it intends to keep 7,600 of its soldiers in South Ossetia and Abkhazia despite a commitment to return to pre-conflict levels.

That position has been called a gross violation of the cease-fire deal by Washington and Brussels.

"If the Russians are staying in South Ossetia with so many forces, I do not consider this as a return to the status quo," de Hoop Scheffer told the "Financial Times" in an interview published ahead of the Tbilisi meeting. "The option of keeping Russian forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not acceptable."

At a NATO summit in April, alliance members declined to grant Georgia a Membership Action Plan (MAP) but said it could eventually join. A review of Georgia's request for a road map is scheduled for December.

Ahead of the Brussels meeting, the European Commission announced its plans to provide Georgia with up to $700 million in aid for rebuilding by 2010 and urged EU member states to match those funds.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said one-fifth of the money would be delivered this year and added that it would be intended for internally displaced people, postconflict rehabilitation, and economic recovery, Reuters reported.

with additional news agency reporting

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/EU_NATO_Try_To_Keep_Up_In_Georgia/1200084.html

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EU, NATO Play Catch-Up In Georgia