OSCE mission withdrawing from Georgia

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-23 09:40

VIENNA, Austria - A team of international monitors is ending its 16-year mission in Georgia after Russia refused to allow an extension of the assignment in a dispute over two Kremlin-backed breakaway regions in the Caucasus nation.

The mission in Georgia by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe expires on December 31, and when OSCE chair Finland called a meeting to seek a three-month extension, talks on the issue collapsed when Russia demanded the group join Moscow in recognizing the statehood of the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The dispute came to a head in August when skirmishes over South Ossetia flared into a war in which Russia swiftly crushed Georgian forces. Soon afterward, Moscow recognized both provinces as independent and moved to increase military and political control over them.

The OSCE mission, made up of local and foreign staff, includes unarmed military monitors and also works on human rights, economic, environmental, good governance and media freedom issues. European Union observers will remain in Georgia to monitor an EU-brokered cease-fire.

Russia, an OSCE member has banned the group's military monitors from South Ossetia since the end of the war, severely curtailing its international oversight mandate.

"Unfortunately, there was no consensus on this decision" to extend the mandate of the 200-person mission, said Antti Turunen, Finland's ambassador to the OSCE, after the closed-door gathering. "That means we have to start withdrawal of the mission and cease its activities."

The US State Department called Russia's insistence on recognizing the provinces' independence an effective "veto" of a mandate agreed upon by the other 55 OSCE members.

"Russia's decision to block the extension of the mission is difficult to justify, given the ongoing tensions and significant humanitarian concerns in the region," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Britain also issued forceful criticism.

"All it comes down to ... is the insistence of Russia that there has to be recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in the future structure of the mission," said Ian Cliff, Britain's ambassador.

Russian envoy Anvar Azimov said the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was a "reality."

Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria said Russia was challenging not only his country's sovereignty and independence but also international law and institutions. "It's basically a statement that the Soviet Union is back," he said.

Finnish Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman Alexander Stubb said he hoped negotiations on future OSCE activities could be continued next year.

Talks on sending more OSCE observers to Georgia have deadlocked for months over Russia's refusal to let monitors into South Ossetia.