OSCE Chairperson-in-Office discusses OSCE engagement and international mediation efforts in Georgia, meets IPRM participants in Ergneti

TBILISI/ERGNETI, 3 February 2017 – In Tbilisi, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz met with Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili and Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze, as well as with representatives of the Parliament and civil society.

The Chairperson-in-Office voiced his full support for the Geneva International Discussions as the only forum where all stakeholders regularly meet. He expressed the readiness of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship to facilitate dialogue among all stakeholders and to work towards improving the safety and security of populations affected by conflict. Defusing conflicts and restoring trust and confidence are among the priorities of the Austrian OSCE Chairmanship in 2017.

As part of the visit, Kurz addressed the participants of today’s Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting in Ergneti. He stated that, “The IPRM is not only a platform for dialogue. Many issues tackled here relate to the humanitarian problems faced by the people who reside near the dividing line. There is a practical side of the work, a special responsibility of the IPRM participants towards the local residents. I encourage you to maximize use of this framework to develop and implement solutions to the problems faced by local residents.”

Ambassador Günther Bächler, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, co-facilitates the IPRM meetings in Ergneti together with Kęstutis Jankauskas, Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia.

In a separate meeting with displaced persons, landmine victims and civil society representatives, Kurz recalled the importance of including the voices of all concerned parts of society in finding a solution to conflicts.

Kurz will travel later today to Moldova for meetings with high-ranking officials.