At Geneva International Discussions, OSCE Chair’s Special Representative calls for maintaining substantive dialogue

GENEVA, 18 June 2014 – Addressing participants at the 28th meeting of the Geneva International Discussions today, Angelo Gnädinger, the OSCE Chairmanship’s Special Representative for the South Caucasus, spoke of the need to maintain substantive dialogue. He encouraged participants to move beyond their established positions, to listen and learn from each other.

Disagreement among participants on the agenda of a working group focusing on humanitarian issues nonetheless disrupted today’s proceedings. “This group is charged with reaching agreement on issues that affect the quality of life of people on both sides of the dividing lines,” Gnädinger said. “It is regrettable that the participants have not been able to make the most of this opportunity.”

The Geneva International Discussions, co-chaired by the OSCE, EU and UN, address the consequences of the 2008 conflict in Georgia and bring together representatives from Tbilisi, Moscow, Washington, Tskhinvali and Sukhumi. One of the outcomes of the Discussions was the establishment of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanisms (IPRMs).

Ambassador Gnädinger has this year co-facilitated five meetings of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism in Ergneti with the Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission, Toivo Klaar. He noted the importance of such mechanisms in building confidence at the local level, and commended the professionalism and pragmatism of all participants in the Ergneti IPRM.

In a joint statement, the co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions – Ambassador Gnädinger, EU Special Representative Herbert Salber and UN Representative Antti Turunen appreciated the satisfactory overall calm and stable situation.