In the early summer of 2008, before the crisis erupted in Georgia, the Russian President suggested that discussions should start on a new pan-European security treaty. This initiative, which remains rather vague in substance, has been received with varying degrees of enthusiasm by other countries. When the geographical area and the aim of the proposed treaty are taken into account, it would seem that the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is the best forum for discussion and preparation of such a document, albeit the last summit was held in Istanbul in 1999.
The OSCE and the Prospect of a New Pan-Europeansecurity Treaty
While many Heads of State and Government from around the world were meeting in China at the Olympic Games, South Ossetia, a separatist region of Georgia, was becoming the focus of attention of the international news because of the crisis which was brewing there and which subsequently degenerated into armed conflict over five days from 7 August 2008.
Moscow’s intervention in Georgia caused serious tension between the Russians and the West. Russia claimed to have acted to save Russian nationals threatened by a Georgian attempt to re-take control of the separatist province of South Ossetia. The West accused Russia of having violated the frontiers of a sovereign state and annexing de facto a part of its territory. It seems that Georgia would certainly have been better advised to step up international diplomatic pressure on Russia rather than launch a military attack which rebounded on it.
A Conflict Resulting from the End of the Cold War
Following its independence on 9 April 1991, Georgia was confronted with the secession of two of its regions: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Since 1992-93 and in spite of the presence of the international community in the form of the UN, the OSCE, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and a number of ad hoc bodies, nothing had really been done to bring together the Abkhazians and South Ossetians on the one hand and the Georgians on the other. In spring 2004, the Georgian government felt itself able to repeat in South Ossetia the success it had achieved in Adzharia.(1) The strategy adopted by Tblisi in 2004 did not take into consideration all the problems which arose at the time of the collapse of the USSR and favoured a confrontational attitude.(2) The violence broke out again and was only resolved by the ceasefire of 19 August 2004. After that, negotiations between the parties dragged on and Georgia felt that Russia was indulging in intrigue with its support to Tskhinvali, instead of acting as mediator. Moscow more or less openly supported the secessionist trends in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It seems that the EU, like the United States, did not do enough to encourage Tblisi to show more flexibility during this period.
Il reste 87 % de l'article à lire
