HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS CONFERENCE HELD BY THREE CO-CHAIRS OF THE GENEVA DISCUSSIONS FOLLOWING THE FIFTEENTH SESSION
The three Co-Chairs of the Geneva Discussions, Pierre Morel, Special Representative of the European Union for the Crisis in Georgia; Antti Turunen, United Nations representative to the Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism and the international discussions in Geneva on security and stability and the return of internally displaced persons and refugees; and Giedrius Cekuolis, the Special Envoy of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Chairperson-in-Office, held a press conference at the Palais des Nations this evening following the fifteenth round of the Geneva Discussions.
Mr. Morel said their mode of presentation had changed because their rate of work and conditions of work no longer required more detailed clarifications so their comments would be brief and then they would answer any questions. Their approach was more concise and factual because following this 15th session they realized summarizing all the various points in the press release each time really wasn’t necessary. For the first ten meetings they had felt it was necessary to give some explanations as to what was at stake, what was promising, what the sticking points were and so on. Once again, after the 15th session the consensus was that it would be a good idea to continue reporting, but the most important point was to go into greater depth in all the subjects that were briefly referred to in the communiqué. This wasn’t a major shift, but it was an interesting indication that the work would be moving deeper and be organized in a more promising fashion. Despite fundamental differences between participants, there was a shared desire and determination to continue the Geneva Discussions and move forward. They saw throughout the session in both Working Groups that there was an improvement in the working methods, with a more constructive and operational approach. This was underpinned by the very substantive work done between sessions by the two international prevention mechanisms that were set up in February 2009 and both of these mechanisms were fully operational. The freeing of 7 prisoners on both sides thanks to these mechanisms was something that they welcomed and showed that people inadvertently wandering over the demarcation line should be dealt with administratively not from a legal point of view and people who were arrested should be freed rapidly by both sides. Other arrests had occurred since these people were freed and they waited and hoped that the same principles would be applied to those cases as well. The idea of bargaining ran completely counter to their work.
As to the non-use of force, the co-chairs were determined to make progress on this very central point. Mr. Morel recalled that the statements on the non-use of force had been envisaged and these had lead to important results last autumn, but there were still real questions regarding relationships and status of all the participants. As of the next session they would try to have a new stage in their work. They had had an exchange on security issues such as confidence building measures, and the specific possibilities for improving confidence was something everyone recognized as important.
As to Working Group II, it continued its work on all aspects that had been referred to. There was a framework for specific action and a common determination to move forward and that was what was predominant.
The Geneva Discussions would convene again on 7 June 2011.
Antti Turunen, United Nations representative to the Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism and the international discussions in Geneva on security and stability and the return of internally displaced persons and refugees, added that after two years of discussions certain issues were on the verge of moving. The value of the Geneva Discussions had been proven as a useful platform for dialogue, not only in the meeting room but for bilateral meetings. The rounds in Geneva had focused on numerous issues, but it was quite clear that there were still differences such as the issue of non-use of force and international security arrangements and further work was needed to explore possibilities for finding common ground. All parties saw the value of the Geneva Discussions; there was no alternative and hopefully it would continue to lead to dialogue and reconciliation. The United Nations remained committed to the Geneva Discussions and prevention mechanisms and all stakeholders appreciated the UN’s role and wanted to continue in this vein. Mr. Turunen said he was confident the work would continue and hopefully they could address the issues that remained unresolved.
Giedrius Cekuolis, the Special Envoy of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Chairperson-in-Office, thanked his colleagues as this was his first meeting as part of the Lithuanian presidency of the OSCE. The session was a constructive one, and he noted the commitment of all participants and the desire to continue discussions with increasingly specific results. He was impressed by the usefulness and efficiency of the meetings.
Questions and Answers
A journalist asked why they were not meeting for another three months. Mr. Morel said that the question of timeframe was one they looked at in a pragmatic fashion. They did have varying gaps; at times they met every 6 weeks now it was more like every two months; they had to take into account holidays and breaks and the calendar of the UN. Between the Geneva Sessions they continued to work to prepare for upcoming sessions so they needed sufficient time to properly prepare for the subjects they would be debating. In addition to their travels there was the increasing importance of the prevention mechanisms; there was work done there that had to be brought back to Geneva and reviewed. The important point was that during the breaks work did not stop, it continued and was consolidated.
Press Communiqué of the Co-Chairs of the Geneva Discussions
The following joint press communiqué by the co-Chairs of the Geneva Discussions was read out:
“The participants of the Geneva International Discussions completed their fifteenth session.
In Working Group I, the participants reviewed the security situation on the ground, which remains relatively calm. They continued their discussions on the key issues of non-use of force and international security arrangements and on best practices and cooperation, in particular in the field of confidence-building.
In Working Group II, participants reviewed the issues related to the humanitarian situation, including the supply of water and gas, the facilitation of returns and other durable solutions, and property-related issues. Participants also took part in an information session dedicated to the “end of displacement”.
The participants of the Geneva International Discussions agreed to hold their next round on 7 June 2011.”