UNITED NATIONS, April 19 -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia are "puppet" states, Georgia's Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze told the Press on Monday at the UN in New York. Inner City Press asked Vashadze to comment on Nicaragua's recognition last week of their unilateral declaration of independence. The UDI was illegal, Vashadze replied, the number of states offering recognition doesn't mean anything.
Inner City Press asked, how does it compare to Kosovo? I'm not going to comment, Vashadze said, adding that Georgia has not recognized Kosovo's UDI. But the U.S. and nearly whole EU, of course, have.
Vashadze denied that Georgia has been in any way snubbed by the Obama administration's rapprochement with Russia. As he spoke, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin were offering mutual praises at a disarmament meeting on the other side of the UN campus.
What about France moving to sell Mistrals to Russia, Inner City Press asked. Previously, French Ambassador Gerard Araud rebuffed Inner City Press' question on this, calling it "no a UN question." But at the UN Monday, Vashadze said Georgia has raised its concerns, and that perhaps the Mistrals will be sold without sensitive technology.
Since Vashadze had said he had time, the Icelandic volcano did not allow him to leave New York, Inner City Press asked for his views of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, might they soften relations between Georgia and Russia. To Vashadze, apparently, the only thing softening is the little bit of snow in the Sochi region.
Vashadze called it "Bolshevik" to try to hold a Winter Olympics in the "tropics." He spoke of Russia carting sand and gravel out of Abkhazia, which will leave it "half under water." Why not try to hold the Winter Olympics in the Sahara, he asked rhetorically. No, there is no thaw.
While Russia's Churkin back in March told Inner City Pres that Abkhazia remains "technically" on the UN Security Council's agenda, Vashadze on Monday said "there are no Georgia questions on the Security Council agenda," that the country can only proceed in the General Assembly.
He predicted a legal win in the International Court of Justice in September, but said that the International Criminal Court process is probably "over" since the ICC has no access to the two "territories" or to Russia. He responded to Inner City Press' questions about NATO with a long and seemingly too optimistic answer, video here.
And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1fmgeorgia041910.html
