Press Communiqué of Co-Chairs of Geneva International Discussions

GENEVA, Switzerland, 14 December 2016 - The thirty-eighth round of the Geneva International Discussions was held today.

In Working Group I dealing with security issues, the participants reviewed and discussed developments on the ground since the previous round held in October 2016. The situation was assessed as relatively calm and stable. All participants welcomed the constructive work conducted in the meetings of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanisms in Ergneti and Gali as an important contribution to peace and stability. The participants welcomed the exchange of documentation relating to the 19 May 2016 incident at the Khurcha/Nabakevi crossing point. A potential joint statement on non-use of force was the focus of deliberations. It was agreed to continue working on such a statement on the basis of the Co-Chairs’ draft.

In Working Group II, the participants reviewed the overall humanitarian situation and discussed a number of issues relating to documentation, crossings, multilingual education, missing persons and cultural heritage. In this context, the participants once again expressed diverging views on ways and means to address issues relating to refugees and IDPs. The unwillingness of some participants to engage in a discussion on the matter led to the suspension of this round. The Co-Chairs regretted such development and reiterated their call on all participants to overcome their differences on this issue and engage constructively on all agenda items.

The participants agreed to hold the next round on 28-29 March 2017.