RUSSIA WARNED OVER GEORGIA MOVE

BBC
KarabakhOpen
01-05-2008 10:42:46

Nato has warned Russia that its recent troop build-up in Georgia’s
two breakaway regions undermines its neighbour’s territorial integrity.

Russia’s moves in Abkhazia and South Ossetia were raising tensions
in the area, a Nato spokesman said.

Moscow has accused Georgia of preparing to invade Abkhazia, and
says it is also boosting Russian peacekeeping forces there and in
South Ossetia.

Tbilisi has described the Russian move as "irresponsible".

"The steps that have been taken and the rhetoric have increased
tensions and undermined Georgia’s territorial integrity," Nato
spokesman James Appathurai said.

He also urged both Moscow and Tbilisi to avoid harsh rhetoric.

US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe on Wednesday
said Washington was "concerned abut reports from the region".

The European Union has appealed for caution, saying to increase troop
numbers would be unwise given current tensions.

Over recent weeks Russia appears to have been significantly turning
up the pressure in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the BBC’s diplomatic
correspondent Jonathan Marcus says.

He says that many Western diplomats see these moves as part of a more
assertive Russian policy in the wake of Western recognition of the
independence of Kosovo in February.

The row over Moscow’s support for separatist enclaves in Georgia now
threatens to provoke a more serious strain between Russia and the West,
our correspondent adds.

‘Aggressors’

Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned
that Moscow would take "retaliatory measures" if Georgia used force
against its breakaway regions.

Russia said Georgia was massing 1,500 soldiers and police in the
upper Kodori Gorge, the only part of Abkhazia which remains under
government control.

In response, Moscow said it was increasing Russian peacekeepers in
both Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Mr Lavrov said that Russia had to protect Russian-passport holders
in the two regions.

Georgia denies any build-up of its own forces in the area, and says
that Russia is taking provocative action.

"We think that this step, if they take it, will cause extreme
destabilisation in the region," said Georgian Prime Minister Lado
Gurgenidze.

"From now on, we consider every soldier or any unit of military
equipment coming in as illegal, potential aggressors and potential
generators of destabilisation."

Kosovo precedent

Russia has kept a peacekeeping force in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
under an agreement made following the wars of the 1990s, when the
regions broke away from Tbilisi and formed links with Moscow.

There are around 2,000 Russians posted in Abkhazia, and about 1,000
in South Ossetia.

Tensions between Russia and Georgia have flared up recently, despite
Russia lifting economic sanctions against Georgia earlier this month.

Last week, Georgia accused a Russian plane of shooting down an unmanned
Georgian spy plane – which Russian authorities insisted was shot down
by Abkhaz rebels.

And on Tuesday, Georgia said it was blocking Russia’s entry to the
World Trade Organization.

Many in Abkhazia believe that Kosovo’s announcement of independence
from Serbia in February provides a precedent for it to be recognised
as an individual state.

Although it has its own flag and postage stamps, it is not
internationally recognised.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress