Monitoring presence in Georgia remains essential, EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus says at OSCE

VIENNA, 28 May 2009 - The EU firmly believes that an international monitoring presence in Georgia remains essential and supports the continued presence of the UN and the OSCE in Georgia in the region, the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus said today.

"The EU has long advocated the continuation of an OSCE monitoring presence in Georgia and hopes that, even now, when discussions have been suspended, that there will be a way to maintain such an important presence on the ground," said Ambassador Peter Semneby in address to the OSCE Permanent Council. "In this regard, I commend the tireless efforts of the OSCE Greek Chairmanship, in particular those of Ambassador Christopoulos," he added.

Ambassador Semneby said that "the EU strongly supports a stable South Caucasus region with open borders, taking advantage of all opportunities for prosperity". "The launch of the Eastern Partnership in Prague three weeks ago makes it abundantly clear that the EU's commitment to the region has been raised to a new level of ambition," he added. The conflicts continue to present a fundamental obstacle for the stabilisation, political reform and economic development of the South Caucasus and regional co-operation is crucial.

On the Geneva process, which the OSCE co-chairs together with the EU and UN, Semneby said that it was "imperative that the discussions start producing tangible results". So far one of the positive outcomes of the Geneva talks was agreement on the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) between all sides.

On Nagorno-Karabakh, Semneby said that the EU continues to fully support the OSCE Minsk Group efforts. "The EU stands ready to offer support and any assistance necessary, in particular through stepping up our own efforts in promoting confidence-building measures and people-to-people contacts," Semneby added.