European envoys in Georgia

On January 20 Tbilisi welcomed two commissioners: Knut Vollebæk, the OSCE commissioner on national minorities and Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the UN Commissioner for External Relations and European neighborhood policy

Naturally Knut Vollebæk was interested in the problems of national minorities. In particular, the life of Georgians in Galsky district of Abkhazia. Fererro-Waldner came to see the places of compact accommodation of refugees from Abkhazia and South Ossetia and discuss the increase in European Commission's financial aid to Tbilisi.

Vollebæk learned of the state of Georgians in Abkhazia from the minister for reintegration Temur Yakpbashvili. As usual the latter presented a vivid picture stressing "riotous behavior of the Russian occupants" without a shadow of embarrassment that the Georgian media repeatedly and objectively stated: Russians don't ill-treat ethnic Georgians.

"Gross violations of the human rights are taking place in the occupied territories", - Yakobashvili's exposing fantasies are quoted by Rosbalt. - Not only Georgians and Georgian-speaking people are persecuted there but other people too. Every day we witness fragrant violation of the local population's rights by the occupants. Russian militaries are chasing cows, cattle and when they get drunken armed soldiers chase people.

As abkhazeti.info states after the end of Vollebæk's visit a joint statement on its results with a clearly defined support of Georgian policy will be signed according to this site.

The latter fact is almost undoubted, especially by Tbilisi structures (it does not matter what impressions the guest will have at the time of his meetings and trips). Firstly because it has never occurred before that the OSCE mission had a critical attitude towards Georgia. The only representative of the organization, the retired British captain Ryan Green who had tried to state (having good grounds) that it was Georgia to attack South Ossetia in August 2008 had a noisy dismissal. The commissioner's obvious disposition was casually expressed by himself (the terminology is in italics - S.C.) talking to the journalists after the meeting with Yakobashvili.

"Today I'm going to Sukhum to have a meeting with the de-facto leaders, - Rosbalt is quoting (by the time this article was written he had already returned - S.C.) - With them I will consider the issue of Georgian population in Galsky district. I'm very concerned about it. I want to know what is going on there from the point of view of their rights protection.

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