The situation in Georgia and its consequences for the stability of the Caucasus region

Doc. 9747

21 March 2003

The situation in Georgia and its consequences for the stability of the Caucasus region

Recommendation 1580 (2002)

Reply from the Committee of Ministers

adopted at the 832^nd meeting of the Ministers’ Deputies (19 March 2003)

1. The Committee of Ministers supports the PACE’s position in favour of preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and acknowledges the Assembly’s concern regarding any events which could jeopardise them. It confirms its desire to facilitate further development of democratic reforms in Georgia and to strengthen the stability in the Caucasus region. It welcomes the results of the Georgian-Russian summit held in March 2003 and the readiness of the Presidents of the two countries to develop Georgian-Russian co-operation in the spirit of good neighbourliness, friendship and mutually beneficial partnership.

2. The Committee of Ministers is aware of the negative impact of unresolved conflicts and regional tensions on the smooth development of democratic institutions and processes in Georgia. However, the Committee of Ministers also shares the Assembly call to the Georgian authorities to step up their efforts to continue democratic reforms and to make substantial progress as regards the implementation of the commitments accepted by Georgia when joining the Council of Europe.

3. In this context, on the basis of paragraph 4 of the 1994 Committee of Ministers Declaration on compliance with commitments, and in the light of the conclusions of the visit to the three Caucasian countries by the Luxembourg Chair of the Committee of Ministers, Mrs Lydie POLFER, in July 2002 (see doc. CM/INF(2002)36 final), the Committee of Ministers invited the Secretary General to ‘make contacts and gather information on the situation in Georgia’. To this effect a Secretariat Delegation visited Tbilisi in December 2002 to assess progress achieved and difficulties encountered in the implementation of the recommendations of a first Secretariat Information and Assistance Mission of December 2001 (doc. SG/INF(2001)45). The report of this new Secretariat Mission is contained in documents SG/INF(2003)1 and Addendum of 17 January 2003. The new report contains a number of recommendations and proposals for action which are now under consideration by the Rapporteur Group on Democratic Stability (GR-EDS). In presenting the report to the Committee of Ministers, the Secretary General underlined the necessity to regularly assess the situation in Georgia as regards development of democratic institutions and implementation of commitments and to provide increased targeted assistance. To start with, the Secretary General proposed to focus this regular assessment and targeted assistance on the following issues:

- Proper preparation of the legislative and institutional framework of the forthcoming parliamentary elections (in particular, functioning of the electoral commissions and revision of the voters’ lists). The Committee of Ministers is aware of the crucial importance of the forthcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia and is willing to provide, in close cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly, targeted specific assistance to secure proper preparation for holding free and fair democratic elections;

- Functioning of the judiciary and reform of the law-enforcement agencies (including new Code of criminal procedure);

- Fight against corruption: implementation of GRECO recommendations and accession to all relevant European Conventions.

Furthermore the Venice Commission is willing to resume its assistance in the question of the still-pending constitutional amendments.

4. As regards the specific recommendations addressed to the Committee of Ministers (paragraph 12 of Recommendation 1580), the following could be brought to the attention of the Parliamentary Assembly:

i. The Committee of Ministers welcomes the agreement between the delegations of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Parliament of Georgia to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe of 27 January 2003 to create a joint Group for the purpose of fact-finding and elaboration of recommendations for timely solution of differences.

ii. The Committee of Ministers supports the efforts of the negotiators for a peaceful solution of the conflicts. The Committee of Ministers is ready to provide assistance and active support, amongst other through expert advice of the Venice Commission if requested by negotiators or by the parties concerned.

iii. One of the priority tasks of the newly appointed Special Representative of the Secretary General in Tbilisi will be to strengthen the interaction of the Council of Europe with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The Committee of Ministers welcomes the decision of OSCE to expand its border-monitoring at the Russian-Georgian border to its Daghestani section. Due to the specific features of border monitoring, a Council of Europe participation can however not be envisaged.

The Council of Europe’s close co-operation with the OSCE in Georgia will aim at enhancing the respect for Council of Europe statutory principles and values, with a special emphasis on ensuring free and democratic parliamentary and presidential elections in 2003 and 2005.

iv. in the light of the conclusions of the Secretariat’s mission report, the Committee of Ministers is willing to step up its cooperation programmes with Georgia. A new European Commission/Council of Europe Joint Programme is to be signed very soon. This new Joint programme will provide additional assistance in the fields of local government, judicial and non-judicial human rights protection mechanisms, freedom of the media, strengthening of the rule of law, independence of the judiciary and fight against corruption and the development of a democratic culture. Bearing in mind the pressing political priority and urgency, the Secretariat is preparing a package of specific assistance activities to contribute to the proper preparations of the forthcoming parliamentary elections Naturally, the Parliamentary Assembly will be fully associated to these efforts.

v. as regards the regional cooperation, the Committee of Ministers wishes to refer to the Vilnius Declaration on regional cooperation adopted on 3 May 2002 and to the first coordination meeting with representatives of sub-regional cooperation initiatives which took place in Strasbourg at the initiative of the Council of Europe on 24-25 October 2002. The Committee of Ministers shares the Parliamentary Assembly’s view that further efforts should be undertaken to promote regional cooperation in the Caucasian region. In this context, it is worth mentioning the on-going EC/CoE Joint programme to promote and strengthen democratic stability and prevent conflict in the South Caucasus region, as well as the activities of the Tbilisi School of Political studies which is developing political training programmes for emerging leadership of the whole region.

5. The recent nomination of a Special Representative of the Secretary General in Georgia will enhance the Council of Europe presence in Georgia and provide regular updated information on the political and institutional developments as well as specific support to the implementation of the increased cooperation and assistance programmes with this country.