South Ossetian side declines the bilateral meeting

Boris Chochiev,”The guarantor of peace in South Ossetia is Russia and not the European Union and OSCE which are arming Georgia!”

On 24 July 2008 the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Republic of South Ossetia, the Minster for Special Affairs, and the JCC Co-chair from the South Ossetian side Boris Chochiev received the Head of OSCE Mission to Georgia Terhi Khakala and her party.

From the South Ossetian part the meeting was attended by the Head of the Department on interaction with ministries, departments and JPKF Guam Sobaev. The sides discussed the proposal of the OSCE Chairman –in-office about the possible two-sided meeting between the Georgian and Ossetian sides with the follow-up discussion of the meeting of the Steering Committee.

Boris Chochiev with satisfaction noted that the Georgian side reconsidered its position and appointed T. Yakobashvili as the Special representative of the President of Georgia on the resolution of conflicts. He underscored that South Ossetian side for a along time insisted on that.

However Boris Chochiev noted that “owing to the fact that there was a long period break in the negotiation process we can not agree to the bilateral meeting with participation of the Georgian and Ossetian sides. The meeting will take place only with the participation of all sides concerned with the resolution of the Georgian - Ossetian conflict in the JCC format. The South Ossetian is not accustomed to violate agreements especially international!”

“The only guarantor of peace in South Ossetia is Russia and not the countries of the EU or the OSCE that are arming Georgia’, he underscored.

In connection with the water shortage in Tskhinval Boris Chochiev proposed the OSCE Mission to hold the monitoring and use the water gauge that will indicate on what section of the waterline Edis – Tskhinval the water is leaking.

At the meeting the South Ossetian side has raised the issue about the schools in the villages of Khetagurovo and Zar which are not yet restored under the Donor Program and therefore it is a problem where the children of these schools will go on 1 September.

During the meeting Terhi Khakala passed the desire of the OSCE Chairman –in -office, the Finish Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Stubb to pay a visit to South Ossetia during his visit to Georgia at the end of August.