HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS CONFERENCE BY THREE CO-CHAIRS OF THE GENEVA INTERNATIONAL DISCUSSIONS FOLLOWING THE TWENTIETH ROUND

The three Co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions, Philippe Lefort, European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus and for the crisis in Georgia; Antti Turunen, United Nations Representative to the Geneva International Discussions and the Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism; and Pádraig Murphy, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, held a press conference at the Palais des Nations this afternoon following the twentieth round of the Geneva International Discussions.

Reading out the press communiqué of the Co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions, Mr. Lefort said the following:

“The participants of the Geneva International Discussions have just completed their twentieth session.

In Working Group I, the participants reviewed the developments on the ground and noted with serious concern the postponement of meetings of the Gali Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM). The Co-chairs underlined the need for effective functioning of the IPRMs as valuable instruments for defusing tensions and addressing issues of concern. The Co-chairs regretted the loss of life in Gali on 28 May and stressed the urgency of a proper response through the use of the instruments available, notably the IPRM. The participants noted with concern the recent serious incidents.

Discussions continued on Non-Use of Force and International Security Arrangements, based on contributions by the participants. The issue remains open for the next session.

The participants also reviewed the outcome of the Information Session held on 7 June on ‘the legal aspects of the concept of occupation’. They welcomed the helpful contribution of this information session to the discussions in the Working Group I. Finally, the participants exchanged views on specific elements of freedom of movement.

In Working Group II, the participants reviewed the humanitarian situation, focusing on the needs and challenges of displaced persons and vulnerable populations. In addition, specific issues such as missing persons, education and cultural heritage preservation were discussed. The participants were also given an update on water-related projects implemented by the OSCE and financed by the EU.

The participants agreed to hold their next session on 3 October 2012.”

Antti Turunen, United Nations Representative to the Geneva International Discussions and the Joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, said that they had had very good discussions despite the fact that there had been very difficult agenda points and lots of issues that were very controversial. He thought that the mood in the meeting and the atmosphere had been very constructive.

Mr. Turunen said that as the press communiqué of the Co-chairs mentioned, one of the big concerns at the moment was the fact that they had not been able to hold a Gali IPRM since 23 March. This was due to the problems related to the modalities and disputes of the modalities. This notwithstanding, they had the clearly expressed support of all participants in the Geneva International Discussions that IPRMs were important mechanisms. On this basis there was of course hope that they could overcome this dispute and resume the work as soon as possible.

As the Chair of the Gali IPRM he was ready to continue consultations in order to find ways of resuming the work of the meeting itself or use any available means within the agreed measures in order to address the current situation on the ground. As was mentioned in the statement, there had been serious incidents, not only the latest ones. Since the end of December there had been ten killings, including three police officers in the Gali district. He deeply regretted the loss of life in all circumstances and hoped that this was not a sign of any further escalation of tensions on the ground.

However, Mr. Turunen expressed his satisfaction and happiness on the fact that the freedom of movement of the local population was very, very well respected. There had been some increases in the number of both people and vehicles crossing the Inguri Bridge. He hoped that this tendency remained an established practice and would be followed on.

Pádraig Murphy, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, said that he had reported to the meeting on a conference held by the Irish Chairmanship of the OSCE last April on the experience gained in coming to a resolution of the conflict in Northern Ireland, while emphasizing that no conflict was the same and that it would be too simple to draw direct parallels between the Irish experience and others.

Nevertheless, some conclusions could be drawn from the conference. Political will and leadership were essential and, in principle, all conflicts caused by human beings could also be resolved by human beings. They had also noted the need for empathy, tolerance, respect and inclusiveness, and that readiness to accommodate differences – including acknowledging the legitimacy of differing interpretations of shared history – had been a key to successful peace-talks. These were two of the conclusions they had drawn from the conference held in April, which they thought could have wider applicability.

For use of the information media; not an official record