Civil Georgia
April 29 2005

Tbilisi Hints it may Soften Stance over Abkhaz Railway

The Georgian daily Rezonansi (Resonance) quotes Georgian
Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze as saying after talks with
her Armenian counterpart Artur Bagdasarian, which was held on April
28, that Tbilisi `has changed its position over restoration of a
railway link via Abkhazia and is ready to discuss this issue if a
concrete progress is made in resolving of the [Abkhaz] conflict.’

`This [restoration of a railway via Abkhazia] is very complicated
issue and of course in case of a political will of all the sides
involved, it can be positively solved; hence it will also be a
positive contribution to a resolution of the Abkhaz problem,’ Nino
Burjanadze added.

She also said that, unlike previous years, now Georgia is ready to
consider restoration of a railway link in parallel to resolving of
problems related to the political issues as well as to return of
internally displaced persons in Abkhazia.

Nino Burjanadze’s this statement was perceived as softening of stance
by Tbilisi over the issue of restoration of a railway communication
between Georgia and Russia via breakaway Abkhazia, which has been
halted decade ago as a result of conflict in Abkhazia.

The Georgian authorities were pushing forward return of displaced
Georgians to Abkhazia as a pre-condition to restoration of the
railway.

Restoration of railway via Abkhazia is of vital importance for
Armenia, which can get a rail access to its strategic partner –
Russia if Georgia agrees to rehabilitate this railway connection.