Javier Solana didn't go into details with Georgian and Russian issues

  In December 2005 Javier Solana, the EU’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, affirmed that the organization was wi...

 

In December 2005 Javier Solana, the EU’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, affirmed that the organization was willing to play a greater role in efforts to solve the South Ossetian conflict.25 Although he did not go into detail, Solana’s statement signified deepening EU engagement with the three countries of the South Caucasus, first demonstrated by the appointment of the Union’s Special Representative (EUSR) for the region in 2003 and the inclusion of the three states in the ENP. The EU has also announced a 2 million Euro aid package for victims of the conflict in Abkhazia to assist in reconstruction, the provision of food, healthcare, and job creation programs. Georgia is very keen for the EU to increase its presence in the country and is encouraging its participation in conflict resolution.

The possibility of the organization establishing its own border monitoring mission to replace the now defunct OSCE one is under consideration, despite Russian antagonism.26 EU specialists are working in Tbilisi under the aegis of the EUSR, assisting Georgia to improve its own border monitoring capacity. Moscow is slightly more receptive to EU involvement than it was to the OSCE mission, although it is still wary of “outside” involvement in what it considers to be its sphere of influence. Georgian efforts to move towards the West have unsettled Moscow. 

In September 2005 the Russian Foreign Ministry warned that the supply of armaments to Georgia by NATO member states could destabilize the whole of the Caucasus region, strengthening Tbilisi’s desire to resolve its territorial disputes by force.27 In spite of Georgian criticism of Russian involvement, it is important to take into account the crucial moderating role that Russia plays in the Caucasus region as a whole. Its stabilizing influence and substantial presence cannot be ignored. Russia played a decisive part in averting bloodshed during Georgia’s “Rose revolution” of November 2003, becoming involved in the impasse surrounding Eduard Shevardnadze’s position as president and also remains the key economic power for the country.