Analysis: Georgia, U.S. addressing gaps in the German plan on Abkhazia

Author: Vladimir Socor, Eurasia Daily Monitor The Georgian government seeks to fill some of the main gaps in Germany’s plan for political resolution of the Abkhazia conflict. Minister of Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier has in recent days presented the plan to European Union, Georgian, Abkhaz, and Russian leaders, in that sequence (see EDM, July 18, 22, 23). In a written statement on July 22, the Georgian government welcomes Germany’s active involvement in advancing a negotiating process. However, “the German plan in its present form does not address the proximate cause of the recent, dangerous escalation in the conflict zones: the role and actions of Russia, a central player in degrading security in Georgia.” Those legal, military, and economic violations of sovereignty must be “reversed, as the first stage in any... [read full story]