GEORGIAN MPS SLAM PACE INVITATION FOR SECESSIONIST LEADERS
Daily Georgian Times
Jan 24 2008
Georgia
The Georgian delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council
of Europe said it was against inviting Abkhaz and South Ossetian
secessionist leaders to a PACE session.
The invitation, according to Georgian TV reports on January 23, came
from the Armenian delegation and was supported by Russia. Russia has
been trying, unsuccessfully, to give the secessionist regimes voice
at international fora, in particular the UN Security Council.
Tbilisi-based Mze TV reported on January 23 that Terry Davis, Secretary
General of the Council of Europe, "wants to see invitations extended
to the de facto leaders, because hearing from them in person would
allow for better understanding."
Davis, speaking with Georgian journalists in Strasbourg on the
sidelines of the PACE winter session, was also quoted, at least
according to the translation, as saying that "all forms of dialogue
should be used to resolve these conflicts". He said "details [of
the possible invitation for the secessionists leaders to speak]
still need to be agreed."
"Inviting them [secessionist leaders] here is ludicrous," Levan
Berdzenishvili, a lawmaker from the opposition Republican Party
and a member of Georgia’s delegation to PACE, said. "The Armenian
delegation’s initative is not correct. It should not happen without
the consent of the Georgian authorities. There is no disagreement
between the [Georgian] opposition and the authorities on this issue."
"This is not the first time something like this has happened," MP
Nino Nakashidze, a lawmaker from the ruling party and a member of
the Georgian delegation to PACE, said. "Such initiatives are merely
stunts."