Lectures and Trainings

   

Lecture on Abkhaz View of UNOMIG’s Mediation Process in the Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict

On October 31, 2005 the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies hosted Marietta S. Koenig, researcher from the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg (IFSH). The guest delivered a lecture to the Foundation fellows and visitors from abroad on Abkhazian’s view of the UNOMIG mediation in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Ms. Koenig’s findings were based on interviews carried out this month with UNOMIG personnel and other International Organizations’ staff active in Abkhazia such as EU, OSCE, Halo Trust, Red Cross,  also representatives of the de facto authorities in Abkhazia, Abkhazian journalists, Abkhazian NGO representatives and, finally, average Abkhazian citizens. A particular attention was given to the Abkhaz opinions.

The focus of the presentation was on two aspects: first, whether and how UNOMIG’s interventions have had an impact on the process of resolving the violent Georgian-Abkhazian conflict and second, on the factors that determine the effectiveness of these interventions. The purpose was to examine the potentials and limits of conflict-solving functions of UNOMIG and to find a possible answer for the question – why the UN, despite eleven years of mediation efforts, has not been able to help to find a solution for the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.