Georgia: Tbilisi seeks international focus on Abkhazia

The Abkhaz conflict was put on the UN Security Council's agenda twice last week, but the authorities in Tbilisi want to attract more international attention to this conflict and invite UN Security Council members to pay a fact-finding visit to the breakaway region.

On July 27 Georgian Presidential representative for Abkhaz conflict settlement Irakli Alasania addressed the Security Council members and briefed them about the situation in the conflict zone. On July 29 the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the 12-year-old UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) for the next six months and noted the lack of progress on key issues, which impedes a comprehensive political settlement.

The adoption of resolutions on Abkhazia and the prolongation of UNOMIG's mandate has become a routine procedure for the UN Security Council, as it has done so every six months for more than a decade.

"From year to year these resolutions are adopted, hence recognizing Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, but there is no real progress [in solving the conflict]," said Revaz Adamia, Georgia's Ambassador to the UN, in an interview with Civil Georgia.