Georgian premier wants EU to punch its weight

By Andrew Beatty

Date: 08/12/05

Georgia has called on the EU to do more to help resolve the conflicts between the central government and breakaway regions that have racked the country since independence.

Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli told European Voice that Georgia wanted "the United States, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe [OSCE] to play a greater role" in the search for a solution. "The EU is one of the biggest donors to the region. Through this they would not only be one of the biggest donors...not just paying for reconstruction," he said. On a visit to Brussels on 29 November Noghaideli presented the EU with a plan to resolve the conflict with South Ossetia, pressing it to enter peace talks with Russia as an active participant.

Noghaideli said the current membership - South Ossetia, the Russian region of North Ossetia, the Russian Federation and the OSCE - left the process unbalanced.

But the EU reacted cautiously, fearing that such a move would upset Russia which had previously been reluctant to accept interference in its 'near abroad'.

"I have not heard them [the Russians] agree with this," said one EU diplomat.

Heikki Talvitie, the EU's special representative for the Southern Caucasus, said that while the EU would back the general principle of the peace plan, it was unlikely to join the talks at this stage. "There was an agreement with Russia at the last summit [4 October] that the EU would use existing mechanisms to try and solve the conflicts in the Southern Caucasus," he said.

Talvitie added that if the withdrawal of military equipment did not take place within the existing format then the EU could look again at joining the talks. "These things are always under review," he explained.

Noghaideli agreed for the most part with Talvitie's comments, but was sceptical that demilitarisation would take place.

"The top priority is to demilitarise the region and this decision has been taken several times. I told [Russian] Foreign Minister [Sergey] Lavrov, if this decision is implemented then let this format stay, but it is very hard to believe that this will happen under the current circumstances," he said.

Although described as one of the former Soviet Union's frozen conflicts, deadly fighting inflamed the region as recently as 2004.

"These armoured vehicles artillery and tanks have certainly got into the region from Russia, they are not growing on trees,"

said Noghaideli. Giorgi Baramidze, minister for transAtlantic integration, who also visited Brussels on 29 November, warned that without action South Ossetia was becoming a haven for criminals and terrorists.

South Ossetians have been linked to last year's massacre of school children in Beslan, North Ossetia.

"It is the biggest issue for Georgia and we certainly count on the EU's support and we think that the

European Union should be more active in this regard," Baramidze said.

Georgian officials have also called on the EU to boost its current mission, which is training border guards. They say the mission is smaller than expected. But Talvitie suggested that improvements would also have to come from the Georgian side.

"It [the mission] is large enough to know that there is no system," he said. "The EU is helping Georgia build a credible border guard system, at the moment it is based on conscripts. They need to be professional."

Interview with the Prime Minister of Georgia, Zurab Noghaideli, who called on the EU to do more to help resolve the conflicts between the central government and breakaway regions that have racked the country since independence.