Russia vetoes UN mission in Abkhazia 

The nearly 16-year-old United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) ended effectively at 0400 GMT on Tuesday, when a draft resolution that would have extended its mandate for just two weeks to allow divergent views to coalesce around a new security regime in the region failed to pass, owing to a veto exercised by the Russian Federation. 

The draft resolution, submitted by Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Turkey, UK and the US, was defeated by a vote of 10 in favour to one against (Russian Federation), with four abstentions (China, Libya, Uganda and Vietnam). This happened at a time when, according to the latest report from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the local population remained in a precarious situation and a ceasefire regime was eroding. 

The force, which currently fields 131 military observers and 20 policemen, was created in 1993 to oversee a ceasefire accord between the Georgian government and Abkhaz separatist authorities. 

The envoys of Britain, France, the United States, Germany and Croatia voiced regret over the Russian veto and reaffirmed their commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. 

But Russia's representative, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, was quoted as saying that his country rejected the draft resolution because it referred to Georgia's "territorial integrity". Churkin described that phrase as "poison". 

"There was one issue on which we could not compromise and that is the territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders," Germany's UN envoy Thomas Matussek said on behalf of the so-called Group of Friends of Georgia - Britain, Croatia, Germany, France and the United States. 

(With agencies.) 

Speaking after the vote, Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert (France) said that his country was fundamentally attached to the sovereignty and integrity of Georgia with regard to its internationally-recognised borders. With its actions, the Russian Federation had assumed responsibility for putting an end to the United Nations 15-year presence in the area, the French diplomat went on, adding that as it stood now, the local population would be the victims. 

France would call on all parties in the area to respect 2008 agreements [negotiated at that time with the mediation of French President Nicolas Sarkozy during the French EU Presidency], and also to respect Georgia's territorial integrity within its internationally-recognised borders, he said. 

Christian Ebner (Austria) regretted the failure to extend the UNOMIG mandate. He added that his country firmly believed that a United Nations mission remained crucial for stability in the region and that such an operation was "in everybody's interest". He praised UNOMIG's work over the past 15 years. 

Alexander Lomaia (Georgia) said that the Russian Federation’s rejection of the mission was not an isolated act, but part of a "larger strategy that had begun even before its invasion last summer, to roll back the international presence in Georgia". Last month, the Russian Federation had vetoed the continuation of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) mission, he reminded. 

The bottom line with respect to UNOMIG's termination was that there would be fewer opportunities to provide unbiased information on either the security situation or human rights violations, Lomaia warned. The termination also meant that it would be more difficult to document any build-up or movement of Russian troops in the region, he stated.