GEORGIA AGAINST PROPOSAL TO INVITE SEPARATIST LEADERS TO COUNCIL OF EUROPE
Interfax, Russia
Dec 19 2007
Tbilisi, 19 December: The Georgian delegation at the meeting of the
monitoring committee of the PACE [Parliamentary Assembly of Council
of Europe] has spoken out against Armenia’s proposal to invite the
leaders of the unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia
[separatist regions of Georgia] to the Council of Europe.
A member of the Georgian delegation to PACE, Elene Tevdoradze, told
journalists on Wednesday [19 December] that Armenian MPs are insisting
that the leaders of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Sergey Bagapsh and
Eduard Kokoyty, should take part in the PACE winter session. The
issue of settling the conflicts in Georgia is to be considered at
this session.
"The Armenians made this proposal at the meeting of the PACE monitoring
committee in Paris yesterday, but we consider it inadmissible to
provide separatists with an international platform," Tevdoradze said.
She said that this Armenian proposal was not put to a vote in the
PACE monitoring committee. "We received particular support from the
Azerbaijani delegation," Tevdoradze said.
However, the Armenian delegation intends to have its proposal put to
a vote at the PACE winter session.