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THE 53rd ROUND OF INTERNATIONAL GENEVA DISCUSSION WAS HELD IN GENEVA

Thursday, 01 July 2021 19:04 491

Sukhum. June 30, 2021. Apsnypress. The 53rd round of the International Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasus was held in Geneva on June 29-30 2021. It was attended by  representatives of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Republic of South Ossetia, Georgia, the Russian Federation and the United States, co-chaired by the UN, EU and OSCE.

The Abkhaz delegation, led by Deputy Foreign Minister Irakli Tuzhba, included Deputy Head of the Presidential Office Saida Butba, Deputy Chairman of the State Security Service Zaal Khvartskiya, MPs Kakha Pertaya, Alkhas Dzhindzholia, Mikhail Sangulia, Alexander Tsishba, as well as officials of the RA MFA - participants of the Geneva Discussions Lasha Avidzba, Artur Gagulia and Madina Shamba.

As the press service of the RA MFA reported, representatives of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Russia have again expressed their growing concern in connection with increasing activity of NATO in Georgia. It was noted that such actions are capable of undermining multilateral efforts to long-term stabilization of situation in the region.

In connection with increasing frequency of violations of the airspace of the Republic of Abkhazia by aircraft of foreign states, which are becoming frequent and uncontrollable, the Abkhaz side called on the co-chairs of the International Geneva Discussions to pay close attention to these violations. Abkhazia considers these actions as deliberate provocations by Georgia.

The meeting participants, besides representatives of Georgia, assessed the situation on the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-South Ossetian borders as stable and predictable.

The main attention was paid to discussion of the text of the joint oral statement on the non-use of force, which would serve as an important step towards the signing of a legally binding agreement on the non-use of force between Georgia and Abkhazia and Georgia and South Ossetia. However, the Georgian side again blocked the advancement of this key issue.

There was a general interest in the need to create new approaches to advance work in this direction, therefore it was decided to postpone discussion of this issue to the next round.

Due to the fact that the Georgian side stubbornly continues to impose discussion of the refugee problem and politicizes this topic on all international platforms, not taking into account the opinion of representatives of the Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia, it is not possible to discuss this issue in Geneva.

The meeting participants unanimously spoke in favor of the earliest possible unblocking of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in Gal, as one of the important formats of the Geneva Discussions.

The Abkhaz delegation reaffirmed its commitment to the work resumption of this mechanism, subject to inclusion of specific issues of mutual interest on the agenda.

There was also held a discussion on topical issues related to freedom of movement, education and a number of other issues, as part of the work of the group on humanitarian issues

The next 54th round of the International Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia is scheduled for October 12-13, 2021.