South Ossetia rejects access to Georgian aid
Published 23 October, 2008, 11:47
No international organisations which are registered in Georgia will be allowed in South Ossetia, according to the republic's president, Eduard Kokoity. It means that no aid issued to Georgia by the International Donors' Conference in Brussels will be pumped into the parts of South Ossetia most heavily damaged during the August conflict.
“We will co-operate and form normal, civilised, relationships on the basis of international law with all organisations, if they will be registered in South Ossetia,” Kokoity pointed out.
The announcement has huge implications for the OSCE, which will be forced to completely end its activity on South Ossetian territory. Kokoity justified his decision by pointing out that South Ossetia has repeatedly told the OSCE that aggression was coming from the Georgian side. However, according to Kokoity, the OSCE remained inert and silent.
During a meeting at the Russian Department of Justice, Sergey Bagapsh, Abkhazia's president, also said OSCE observers that they were no longer welcome in Abkhazia. He believes the observers should be stationed in Georgia since it is the potential aggressor in the area.
Bagapsh noted that the mandate for UN peacekeepers on Abkhazia's territory has been extended until February 2009. Nothing has been said on the subject by other international organisations.
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