OSCE Chairman regrets disagreement on OSCE future in Georgia

HELSINKI, 22 December 2008 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, said today he deeply regretted that the 56 OSCE participating States had failed to reach consensus on the future of the OSCE Mission to Georgia. 

The closing down of the Mission is due to start in the beginning of 2009.

"I deeply regret the situation. Finland has put a lot of effort into finding a solution. The OSCE still has much work to do in the region. Despite the situation today, I hope that negotiations on future OSCE activities in Georgia can be continued next year," said Stubb.

Finland proposed a package deal, which included parallel, mutually independent field offices to Georgia and South Ossetia. The field offices would have been directed by a Special Representative of the Chairman-in-Office, having headquarters in Vienna. As an alternative, Finland proposed that the current mandate be prolonged by three months to allow more time for the negotiations.

Russia could not accept any linkage between the OSCE activities in South Ossetia and the rest of Georgia, because Moscow has recognized the independence of South Ossetia as well as Abkhazia. No other OSCE participating State has recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The OSCE will prepare to close down the Mission with some 200 staff in a few months. The OSCE has widespread activities in various sectors of society in Georgia, including military monitoring, as well as freedom of media, NGOs, good governance, environmental protection and training for a wide range of specialists.

Since 2006, the OSCE has also been conducting an Economic Rehabilitation Programme in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.