ACCORDING TO INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP, EUROPEAN UNION MUST BE INVOLVED IN SETTLEMENT OF SOUTH CAUCASUS CONFLICTS DEEPER

Noyan Tapan
Mar 21 2006

TBILISI/BRUSSELS, MARCH 21, NOYAN TAPAN. For guaranteeing its own
security, the European Union must be involved in settlement of the
South Caucasus conflicts deeper for those don’t break up as wide-spread
wars in the neighborhood of Europe. Such an opinion was expressed
by the International Crisis Group in its March 20 message. The
“Conflicts Prevention in South Caucasus: Role of European Union”
new report of the International Crisis Group studies efforts of
the European Union to touch upon the strengthening round Nagorno
Karabakh, Abkhazia and South Osetia and points out its possible
additional activities. “Brussels started to touch upon the challenge
of a deeper involvement only recently. There were few promising steps
but there is still a long way to pass,” Sabine Freizer, the Caucasus
Project Director of the International Crisis Group stated. Mentioning
that the UN in Abkhazia and the OSCE in Nagorno Karabakh and South
Osetia were engaged in conflicts settlement till the recent times,
but the negotiations having lasted for dozens of years didn’t reach
all-embracing agreements of peace, the International Crisis Group
expresses confidence that the European Union has a greater role to
play and can complete the UN and OSCE efforts “having authority of an
“honest mediator,” different soft and rough levers of influence and
possibility of proposals to be deeper integrated into Europe.” For
avoiding instability of its own borders, the European Union wants to
create round it a circle of effectively rulled countries. This is
interested in South Caucasus also for the reason that it wants to
secure accessibility of oil and gas of the Caspian region, develop
transportation and communication corridors between Europe and Asia
and limit such dangers as smuggling, trafficking and degradation
of environment are. According to the International Crisis Group,
as the European Union will hardly propose membership to Georgia,
Armenia and Azerbaijan in the nearest time, it must find newest means
to stipulate its assistance a!

nd use influence. The Actions Plans of the European Neighborhood policy
is at the stage of summing up what, according to the message, creates
a proper opportunity for strengthening the EU role, especially if
the peaceful settlement of conflicts is defined as an obligation. The
International Crisis Group expresses opinion that the newly appointed
EU Special Representative must be an observer in negotiations going on
round Abkhazian, South Osetian and Karabakh conflicts. The European
Commission made significant allocations for reconstruction works in
South Osetia and Abkhazia. It must estimate how it may start to do
more on Nagorno Karabakh and round it. “The European Union attempts to
define its role in the new neighborhood where there is neither peace
nor war. If the European Union isn’t able to fulfil its imagination
of a safe neighborhood, its confidence in the region and in general,
compared with Russia and the U.S., will suffer. It’s more worrying if
the conflicts in South Caucasus continue to strengthen, the European
Union may be unready for the issue of finding a response to wars of
its neighbors,” Nicholas Whyte, the Europe Program Director of the
International Crisis Group stated.