Tbilisi's offer of 'informal dialogue with Abkhaz public' rejected in Abkhazia

The State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality of Georgia Tea Akhvlediani has proposed and an informal dialogue and “cooperation in common interests with the Abkhaz and Ossetian publics”.

In Abkhazia, the proposal was not accepted, noting Tbilisi should ‘think about reconsidering its attitude to the conflict.’

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Position of Tbilisi

Tea Akhvlediani stated that Tbilisi’s peaceful policy is based on “on the one hand, to seek de-occupation [ed. Russia’s cancelation of the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the withdrawal of its military forces from their territories], on the other, reconciliation of war-torn societies.”

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia also proposed to the parliament his vision of how to resolve the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts during his confirmation in this post on December 24.

He said that in the future, the approach of the Georgian government to the occupied territories will be more structured and consolidated:

“We need a unified well-thought-out policy … which will involve all relevant departments – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Reconciliation, the relevant special services, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and so on.

“Work on peace initiatives will continue, first of all, to build confidence with our citizens, our Abkhaz and Ossetian brothers.”

Gakharia also said that Georgia expects international partners to actively participate in this process.

Position of Abkhazia

In response, the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry expressed regret that “Georgia’s approaches remain unchanged.”

“Tbilisi perceives Abkhazia exclusively as a ‘community’, ‘de facto regime’, ‘occupied territory’, etc. It follows from this that the dialogue between Abkhazia and Georgia in the mind of the Georgian minister can only be informal.

However, such an approach, no matter how Tbilisi expands the ‘platform of dialogue’, cannot lead to anything constructive. The Republic of Abkhazia does not intend to conduct such a dialogue with Georgia, and the very idea of ​​such a dialogue should be recognized as absolutely unrealistic,” the statement says.

Abkhazia believes that bilateral negotiations can begin only if Tbilisi “proceeds to agree to a document on the non-use of force between Abkhazia and Georgia within the framework of the Geneva discussions.”

Abkhazia also demands that Tbilisi abandon the policy of its international isolation.

On December 21, open hearings of the ‘foreign policy concept’ approved by its president were held in Abkhazia. The opposition sharply criticized and said the clause of the concept ‘On the prospects for the settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict’ was ‘defeatist’, which makes a cautious assumption about possible bilateral negotiations with Tbilisi:

The paragraph sounds like this:

“The Republic of Abkhazia admits the possibility of creating conditions for the formation of an additional format of multi-level negotiations between Georgia and the Republic of Abkhazia, within the framework of which it will be possible to discuss with the Georgian side issues of mutual interest, the solution of which is not possible within the framework of the international Geneva discussions.”

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