Events Detail

             Zeyno Baran and Temuri Yakobashvili

recently held a conference on

GEORGIA'S DEFROSTING CONFLICT?
A new approach to Abkhazia, Georgia

Featuring an address by:

TEMURI YAKOBASHVILI
State Minister for Reintegration Issues

Hosted by:

ZEYNO BARAN

Center for Eurasian Policy

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Following NATO's decision in April to accept Georgia as a new member, Russia has taken a number of provocative steps in regard to its southern neighbor. First, Moscow issued a presidential decree for direct official relations with the secessionist authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Then, a Russian fighter jet shot down a Georgian UAV over Georgian airspace. And at the end of last month, Russia illegally moved its railway troops into Abkhazia without giving prior notification to Tbilisi as required by treaty. What some have called an overt annexation through "peacekeeping" troops seems to be continuing, even while US-EU joint efforts focus on persuading Russia to withdraw any troops and equipment from Abkhazia that do not fit with its peacekeeping mandate.

In seeking to prevent the escalation of tensions in Abkhazia, the European Union's External Relations Council has limited itself to generalized expressions of "concern," while the Russian side has called for a "normalization" of the Russian-Georgian relations. From Tbilisi, however, a newer vision has emerged: direct dialogue with the Abkhaz and a peaceful solution of the conflict through "internationalization." This view calls for a dramatic change in the peacekeeping apparatus currently dominated by Russia.

To discuss Georgia's new initiatives and recent developments pertaining to the frozen conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Hudson Institute's Center for Eurasian Policy hosted State Minister for Reintegration Temuri Yakobashvili. Mr. Yakobashvili acts as the chief negotiator on Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Prior to his appointment to this post in January 2008, Mr. Yakobashvili was involved in the Georgian non-governmental sector as co-founder and member of the managing board of the Foreign Relations Council and the Atlantic Council of Georgia. He also served as Executive Vice-President of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies. His expertise is further enhanced by his 11 years of diplomatic service with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia as well as by studies in the field of diplomacy and international security at Harvard, Yale and Oxford.

This on the record meeting took place at Hudson Institute, located at 1015 15th St, NW, 6th Floor, Washington, DC. For more information, please contact Onur Sazak at onur@hudson.org or call (202) 292-5961.