EU in bid to defuse Abkhazia tensions

A group of European Union foreign ministers will go to Georgia next week to try to ease tension between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The EU and Nato said last week that Russia had fuelled tensions by deploying extra troops in the Black Sea coastal territory that broke away from Tbilisi in a war after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The dispute between Georgia and its former Soviet master could further complicate EU efforts to launch talks on a new cooperation pact with Moscow.

"We expect the Slovenian, Swedish, Polish and Lithuanian foreign ministers to go to Georgia on Monday," a source from Slovenia's EU presidency said.

"The visit could ... help easing tensions between Georgia and Russia," said a Lithuanian foreign ministry spokeswoman.

Georgia says Russia's move to send more troops to Abkhazia risks sparking an all-out conflict. Moscow says it is reinforcing numbers there in response to the risk of an attack by Georgia on Abkhazia, once a playground for the Soviet ruling elite.

Russian soldiers patrol land between Georgian and Abkhazian forces under the terms of a 1994 UN-organised ceasefire.

"The ongoing incidents in Georgia show that the existing peacekeeping mechanism is not effective," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas said today. "The EU should not be afraid to take more responsibility and seek a more active role.”

Abkhazia was isolated for years after its 1992-3 war against Georgia. But it has since forged closer ties with Russia, which has given Abkhaz residents passports and pensions. Many Russians go there on holiday.

Tension has risen further with reports by the Abkhazian leadership that Abkhazian forces have shot down Georgian spy drones over their territory.

Georgia itself is at the centre of a tussle for influence between the United States and Russia over the Caucasus – a volatile, mountainous region which hosts a major pipeline pumping oil from Asia to Europe.

Relations between the West and Russia are further strained by moves by Georgia's pro-Western leadership to join Nato.

EU foreign ministers will travel to Georgia from Lithuania, where they will try on Sunday to resolve a dispute blocking the launch of talks on a new EU cooperation pact with Moscow.