Agency Caucasus – The United Nations (UN) Observer Mission in Georgia must be renamed, Abkhazia’s President Sergei Bagapsh said on Sunday in Sukhum, capital of Abkhazia.
Bagapsh and his Foreign Minister held a meeting with Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Georgia and Head of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) Johan Verbeke about the future structure of the mission’s work.
Mr. Bagapsh sounded adamant in his request that the structure of the mission as well as the number of military observers must be modified. He was, however, far more strong in his argument that the name of the organization must be altered to include the name of his country—Abkhazia.
“If it remains the UN observer mission in Georgia, let it do the observation in Georgia, not in Abkhazia," Bagapsh said in a statement released from the office of his press secretary.
Because the mission’s term of service comes to an end on October 15, there will not be much time left to put the mission in a different formation, Verbeke said.
Bagapsh did not raise a counter-argument against what Verbeke said; however, he succeeded in getting Verbeke to make a promise to inform the UN headquarters of his request.
UNOMIG was established as part of the United Nations Security Council in 1993 to ensure that Georgia and Abkhazia complied with a 27 July 1993 ceasefire agreement to keep peace especially in Sukhum. Today, UNOMIG handles issues of security, helps with the return of the displaced and improves key infrastructure, such as roads and bridges. UNOMIG’s is currently given a capacity to host 133 military observers and 19 police officers.
Bagapsh’s argument rests on a recent change in the ‘official’ status of his country along with that of South Ossetia—a change that has been brought about by Russia’s decision early this month to recognize the two countries as independent after it crushed in mid-August an offensive that Georgia had launched in earlier against South Ossetia. Bagapsh’s request that the name of UNOMIG must be chaged is, in fact, a call for the UN Secretary General to recognize his country. Only time will show what the response will be.
HAS
