Press Communiqué of Co-Chairs of Geneva International Discussions

GENEVA, Switzerland, 21 June 2017 - The participants in the 40th round of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) just completed their work. In both working groups, wide-ranging and useful discussions took place.

In Working Group I dealing with security issues, the situation on the ground was assessed as relatively calm and stable. Participants shared their assessments on the case of the killing of an unarmed Georgian civilian on 19 May 2016. The Co-Chairs and several participants called for the reopening of the case to ensure that justice is served. The participants extensively discussed ways to find an agreement on a non-use of force statement and agreed to continue to work on this matter before the next GID round with a view to achieving consensus. Participants also discussed detentions along the dividing lines, access to farmland, and exchange of information on military activities.

In Working Group II on humanitarian issues, the participants reviewed recent developments, with a particular focus on the practical consequences deriving from the closure of the Khurcha-Nabakevi and Orsantia-Otobaia crossing points in March 2017. They also held intense discussions on a number of issues relating to crossings, travel opportunities, documentation, missing persons, mother tongue based multilingual education, cultural heritage and environmental concerns. In this context, the participants agreed to follow up on a number of concrete issues in the coming months. Given long-standing divergent positions, it was again impossible to conduct a discussion on issues relating to IDPs/refugees. The agenda of Working Group II could therefore not be fully covered.

The participants agreed to hold the next round on 10-11 October 2017.