Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European Countries associated with the European Union, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the associated countries of Cyprus, Malta and Turkey align themselves with this statement.
First of all, I wish to express my appreciation to you, Mr. President, for organizing this Security Council meeting on Georgia and for inviting the European Union to participate. We have listened with great interest to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Mr. Irakli Menagarishvili, and the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Mr. Dieter Boden, and thank them for their statements.
The EU welcomes the efforts of the SRSG to enhance contacts at all levels between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides together with the Group of Friends of the Secretary General and the OSCE. The EU welcomes the initiative to convene the third Meeting on Confidence-building Measures between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides in Yalta on 15-16 March. The EU commends the Ukrainian Government for its efforts at reaching a succesful outcome of this meeting. The EU notes with satisfaction the common understanding reached by the parties to the conflict at the meeting of the need for reinvigorated efforts in the field of confidence-building within the framework of the Geneva peace process. The EU believes that such measures can bring an important element of increased confidence between the parties to the peace process.
The EU Ministerial Troika recently visited southern Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia). The Ministerial Troika emphasized the importance of continued political reforms in order to secure peace, stability, economic development and solving the conflicts in the region.
The EU, in close co-operation with the parties, relevant international organisations (UN, OSCE, IMF and the World bank) and the states in the region, is currently investigating how to support the efforts at solving these conflicts and preventing new ones to arise.
As stated in the EU Presidency Declaration of 16 March, the EU considers that the local elections held in Abkhazia (Georgia) on 10 March 2001 are null and void. The conditions for fair elections were not met, owing to the absence of 300 000 Georgians from Abkhazia who had been driven out of their homes. The EU wishes to underline that the holding of the elections cannot in any way detract from the need for the Abkhaz side to seek a compromise solution which respects international law and in particular the territorial integrity of Georgia.
The EU wishes to underline the importance of negotiations on the core issue of the future status of Abkhazia within Georgia. In this regard, the EU fully supports the Council's request, as provided for in UNSCR 1339, for a briefing to be given next month by the Secretary General on the progress of the political settlement.
I thank you, Mr. President