April 23, 2008
Press Release
Germany, France, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the
United States of America, as members of the Group of Friends of the Secretary
General for Georgia, reaffirm their commitment to the sovereignty, independence and
territorial integrity of Georgia. This fundamental principle has been strongly
reaffirmed by the Security Council, whose members unanimously adopted Resolution
1808 only a week ago.
We are highly concerned about the latest Russian initiative to establish official ties
with institutions of the de facto authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia without the
consent of the Government of Georgia. We call on the Russian Federation to revoke
or not to implement its decision.
The Group of Friends has always been and should remain engaged in advancing a
resolution to the conflict based on dialogue and agreed steps. To this avail, we need
to narrow and not increase the existing divide and to bring the sides together.
We, therefore, welcome that the Georgian President has recently put forward a new
initiative for the peaceful resolution of the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia. Together with
a set of confidence-building measures proposed by the Group of Friends, we feel that
there are now many useful ideas on the table for the sides to come together and to
agree on steps of common interest. Such steps could start, but should not end, with
the exchange of declarations concerning the non-resumption of hostilities and the
return of refugees.
As to the recent incidents involving the shooting of unmanned aerial vehicles in the
Georgian airspace: we strongly condemn all activities, which risk to escalate tension.
We call on all parties involved in these incidents to renounce any armed or military
action and to respect Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. UNOMIG should
convene with the parties to investigate the incident.
At the same time we urge both parties to the conflict to immediately approve the
increase of the observation capabilities of UNOMIG. These will be impartial and
protective for both sides, and should allow the mission to fulfil its mandate in the
present circumstances.
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