Groups of Friends of Georgia

International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN) presents the chronology and relevant documents of the international mediation and conflict resolution tool - "Group of Friends". Since 1993 several Groups of Friends were founded for Georgia to play a significant role in the peace processes of Georgia.

About the Groups of Friends of Georgia

Groups of Friends—understood as informal groups of states formed to support the peacemaking of the United Nations - from the emergence of Friends of the Secretary-General on El Salvador in 1990, at a moment of post-Cold War optimism regarding the UN’s peacemaking capacity. The use of “Groups of Member States” around specific topics is an effective open-ended tool for improving targeted communication and supporting specific change agendas. The membership in such groups is voluntary and self-defined, depending upon the interests of each State. This format has helped to rebuild trust and confidence among States in the peacemaking context, to be a source of ideas, resources, and diplomatic or financial assistance. (A Crowded Field: Groups of Friends, the United Nations and the Resolution of Conflict, by Teresa Whitfield).

ICCN provides with a chronology of developments in the light of forming an unformal group of friends to assist Georgia's peace process from the very begining up to today. This process may be divided into several periods starting from 1993 - when the Group of Experts was set up; Then, during 1993 - 1997 - when the Group of Friends of Georgia was founded; And later from 1997 to 2009 - when the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Georgia was active. The presence of the Russian Federation in the whole past period of the history of groups of friends - was criticised several times and, consequently, in 2005, was followed with a creation of the New Group of Friends of Georgia (2005-2011). After 2008 August War between Russia and Georgia, the last statement of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General on Georgia was made, ceasing its existance from that moment (unformally, without any relevand official document on its abolishement). From 2014 the Group of Friends of Georgia in the frame of OSCE Participating States was set up, which is active till today.

OSCE Group of Friends of Georgia since 2014

2023, December 1 - OSCE Group of Friends of Georgia. Joint Statement to the OSCE Ministerial Council 2023.

2022, September 2 - Joint statement of the Group of Friends of Georgia to the OSCE Permanent Council.

2022, March 18 - Joint Statement of the Group of Friendsof Georgia: do not recognizethe legitimacy of the so-called “parliamentary election” held in Georgia’sAbkhazia region on March 12, 2022. The same is true for the so-called “presidential election” scheduled to be held in Georgia’s South Ossetia region on April 10, 2022.

Also see on: https://mpviena.mae.ro/en/local-news/1593

2021, December 3 - Joint Statement of the Group of Friends of Georgia to the OSCE Ministerial Council.

2021, August 12 - Joint statement of the Group of Friends of Georgia to the OSCE Permanent Council.

2020, December 4 - Joint Statement of the Groupof Friends of Georgia.

Also see on: https://osce.usmission.gov/joint-statement-of-the-group-of-friends-of-georgia-3/

2020, September 3 - Joint statement of the Group of Friends of Georgia to the OSCE Permanent Council.

2020, March 23 - Joint statement of the Group of Friends of Georgia: do not recognize the legitimacy of the so-called“presidential elections” held in Georgia’s Abkhazia region on March 22, 2020.

2019, December 9 - Joint Statement of the Group of Friends of Georgia on Russia-Georgia Conflict to the OSCE Ministerial Council.

New Group of Friends of Georgia since 2005

2011, April 14 - Minister Teodor Baconschi co-chaired the New Group of Friends of Georgia meeting. Press release.

2005, February 7 - The New Group of Georgia’s Friends Founded.

The Group of Friends of the UN Secretary-General for Georgia since 1997

2009, June 16 - Joint Statement by the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General on the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia. Resolution.

The Russian veto at the UN Security Council led to the termination of UNOMIG.The reaction to terminating UNOMIG was unanimously negative. The day after the Security Council vote, the UN Secretary-General’s Group of Friends on Georgia (with the exception of Russia) issued a joint statement.

Following is the text of a Joint Statement by the Spokespersons of the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, and France as members of the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General:

"We deeply regret Russia’s decision to veto a resolution on the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), which has resulted in the termination of the Security Council mandate for the Mission after 15 years of valuable service providing military transparency on the ground, promoting the human rights of the local population, and seeking to create conditions for the voluntary, safe, and dignified return of internally displaced persons and refugees. We note that Russia had twice accepted a reference to UNSCR 1808 since the August conflict, in resolutions 1839 and 1866. The closure of the UN mission, like that of the OSCE mission, is a setback to international efforts to resolve this conflict.

We call on all parties with forces on the ground to exercise the utmost restraint and to abide by the August 12 and September 8 ceasefire agreements. We call on all participants in the Geneva talks to commit themselves to continuing efforts to find a peaceful and political resolution to the conflict and to alleviate the plight of refugees and IDPs. We reaffirm our firm support for the European Union Monitoring Mission.

We also reiterate our strong support for Georgia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders".

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2008, July - The “Steinmeier plan” – a plan for resolution of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict proposed before the 2008 Georgian-Russian War by the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, but developed by the Group of Friends as a whole.

The agenda of visiting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier's talks in Tbilisi on July 17, Sukhumi on July 18, and Moscow on July 19 was the new three-stage Abkhaz Peace proposal drafted by Germany in its capacity as one of the five members of the Friends of the UN Secretary-General for Georgia group of countries. The others are the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and Russia.

2008, 18-19 February - Senior representatives of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General met in Geneva under the chairmanship of the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. The purpose of the meeting was to take stock of developments in the United Nations-led peace process since their last meeting in Bonn on 27 and 28 June 2007.

2007, January - UN Secretary General's Group of Friends on Georgia, will meet in January 2007 in Geneva. Press Release.

2006, 21 September - Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin met with diplomats from the UN Secretary General’s Group of Friends on Georgia accredited in Moscow on September 21 to discuss the situation in the Abkhaz conflict zone.

“The sides exchanged opinions over the difficult situation in the Georgian-Abkhaz settlement, along with the forthcoming discussion of the draft resolution on the issue by the UN Security Council in New York,” according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The Russian side gave foreign diplomats its proposals regarding the contents of the draft resolution “with special emphasis” on exclusively peaceful methods of conflict resolution, normalization of the situation in the conflict zone and the resumption of the negotiating process, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

2006, May 26 - UN Secretary General's Group of Friends of Georgia visits the region of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict. Statement by the group of friends of UN SG of the UN on Georgia, following their meetings in Tbilisi and Sukhumi.

2006, 2-3 February - Senior representatives of the Group of Friends met under the chairmanship of the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations in Geneva. The Georgian and Abkhaz delegations were led by State Minister Giorgi Khaindrava and the de facto Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergei Shamba, respectively. The Friends underlined the need for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in the framework of the relevant Security Council resolutions and reaffirmed their commitment to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders. They agreed on the need to address the core political issues of the conflict, in addition to continuing work on confidence-building measures. In this context, they recalled their support for the principles contained in the paper on “Basic Principles for the Distribution of Competencies between Tbilisi and Sukhumi”. The Friends also welcomed the continued good cooperation between UNOMIG and the CIS peacekeeping force. They supported the registration of returnees in the Gali district by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), in line with international standards, which is to commence in April 2006.

The Geoup of Friends urged the parties to finalize, without delay, the package of documents on the non-use of force and on the return of internally displaced persons and refugees, and to follow up on a possible meeting of their highest leadership. They stressed the need for the Georgian side to address seriously legitimate Abkhaz security concerns and to avoid steps and actions that could be seen as threatening. On the Abkhaz side, they underlined the need to address seriously the issues of return and the security and human rights concerns of returnees and to publicly reassure the local population, especially in the Gali district, that their residency rights and identity would be respected.

2005, August 10 - Group of friends of UN Secretary-General on Georgia visits Sukhumi. Press Release.

2005, 7-8 April - The Group of the Friends of the Secretary-General on Georgia meets in Geneva to review Georgia-Abkhazia peace process. Press Release. Under the chairmanship of the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, high-level representatives of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General met at Geneva, with the participation of the parties. The Georgian delegation was led by the State Minister for Conflict Resolution, George Khaindrava, and the Abkhaz delegation was led by the de facto Foreign Minister, Sergey Shamba. This was the second time that the two parties had participated in the Geneva meetings since February 2003 and the first time since suspension of the contacts in July 2004. UN Special Representative for Georgia also participated, and a representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) briefed the Group of Friends.

Together with the United Nations representatives, the Group of Friends held separate meetings with each side in order to explore their respective concerns and possible areas for follow-up discussions between the sides.

The discussions in Geneva highlighted the differing priorities of the two sides, and the importance of building trust between them if there is to be progress on political issues. The presence of the parties did confirm their willingness to reengage with one another and paved the way for renewed discussions in the relevant task forces and working groups established in the three priority areas.

2005, January - February - The consistent efforts of the UN Special Representative for Georgia, to defuse tensions and prepare the ground for the resumption of dialogue between the parties were supported by the Group of Friends and the Russian Federation, in its capacity as facilitator.

The UN Special Representative for Georgia briefed the Group of Friends in New York on the periphery of Security Council consultations in January. Ambassador Uwe Schramm, the German Ambassador to Georgia and Coordinator of the Tbilisi-based Group of Friends, visited Sukhumi at the end of January.

Early in February, Sir Brian Fall, the United Kingdom Special Representative for the South Caucasus, visited Tbilisi and Sukhumi. At the same time, the UN Special Representative for Georgia continued to be in contact with Heikki Talvitie, the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus, and held consultations with Robert Simmons, the NATO Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia. She also met in Tbilisi with Laura Kennedy, the United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, and Elisabeth Rood, Deputy to the United States Special Negotiator for Eurasian Conflicts.

From 14 to 17 February, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations visited Tbilisi and Sukhumi. Accompanied by my Special Representative, the Under-Secretary-General met with the top leadership of the two sides, the Ambassadors of the Group of Friends, the Commander of the collective peacekeeping forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and representatives of United Nations agencies and other international organizations. While acknowledging the differences in the positions of the two sides on the underlying issues of the conflict, in particular concerning status, the UnderSecretary-General encouraged the sides to seek progress on matters of practical cooperation in the three priority areas of the peace process, wherever possible, without prejudice to their position of principle. In response, both the Georgian and the Abkhaz side expressed willingness to resume dialogue on issues related to security, the return of refugees and internally displaced persons, and economic cooperation, and agreed to participate in the next high-level meeting with the Group of Friends at Geneva.

2004, 13-14 December - Group of Friends of Secretary-General Review Georgia-Abkhaz Peace Process in Geneva, on 13-14 December 2004.

2004, particularly the second half of the year, had not been an easy one for the Georgian-Abkhaz peace process. While the parties came together during the course of the year on some substantive issues, efforts to advance a dialogue encountered serious challenges. Renewed tension in the zone of conflict led to a chain of events that brought all contacts between the sides to a halt by mid-year and, over the past five months, the UNOMIG Mission’s main efforts focused on finding ways to re-establish the dialogue and avoid regression.

The political uncertainty in Sukhumi also seriously limited the possibility of continued dialogue. However, the high-level meeting of the Group of Friends, which took place on 13 and 14 December 2004 in Geneva, was a timely opportunity to reflect on the overall state of the peace process and to discuss how best to address the challenges to the pursuit of a lasting and comprehensive solution to the conflict. The support of the Group of Friends remained invaluable for the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Special Representative.

2004, 17-18 February - The Third UN-Chaired Meeting of the Group of Friends held the United Nations-chaired high-level meetings in Geneva (see S/2004/315, paras. 5-7). The meeting aimed at providing a welcome opportunity to take stock and seek renewed progress on priority tasks in the peace process.

2003, 21-22 July - The Second Meeting of the Group of Friends in Geneva. The note to the UN Secretary-General.

2003, July 21 - Heidi Tagliavini, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia met with representatives of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General for Georgia in New York in May 2003. She had consultations with President Putin's Special Representative for the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, First Deputy Foreign Minister Valrey Loshchinin, in Tbilisi in April and in Moscow in June and in July and, likewise, with the United States Department of State Special Negotiator for Eurasian Conflicts, Rudolf Perina, in New York in May. Senior representatives of the Group of Friends have agreed to meet again, under the chairmanship of the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, in Geneva in July. The Georgian and Abkhaz sides accepted invitations to participate in part of this meeting.

2003, July 15 - In April and May 2003, Mr. Loshchinin, President Putin's Special Representative for the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, and Sir Brain Fall, the Special Representative for Georgia of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, separately visited Tbilisi and Sukhumi and found that the Abkhaz potition remained unchanged: refusal to receive the paper on the distribution of competences and its transmittal letter on the same grounds.

However, after consultation with the RF in its capacity as facilitator, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Georgia explored Abkhaz readiness to participate, with the Georgian side and representatives of the Group of Friends, in a meeting on security guarantees within the framework of the Geneva recommendations. This meeting was convened on 15 July, and participants exchanged views on the issue and discussed procedural questions.

2003, March 3 - For the first time in 4 years, the Group of Friends was received. at the ambassadorial level, by the Abkhaz de facto authorities in Sukhumi.

Tbilisi-based "Friends" visited Sukhumi on March 3, and met with local authorities, CIS PKF and UNOMIG. The expectations were that the three task forces, broader-based than existing working groups would act as mechanisms to help revitalise the political and the Geneva/Coordinating Council process.

Meanwhile, UNOMIG continued preparatory work for the launching of 3 task forces once final approval has been received from both sides.

At the same time, the mechanism of the UN-led Coordinating Council remained suspended, neiter the Council nor its three working groups being able to convene.

2003, 19-20 February - The "UNSG's Group of Friends for Georgia" held a brainstorming session in Geneva. The "Friends" reaffirmed their commitment to the principles of political settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict and recommended the establishment of task forces to deal with the three groups of issues: economic rehabilitation, IDPs and refugees, and political and security issues.

In each task force the parties, representatives of the Group of Friends and external experts could participate under United Nations chairmanship. The UN Secretary-General's Group of Friends on Georgia decided to assess the progress in June 2003. Depending on this evaluation, the Friends agreed to pursue further steps, including the possibility of convening a fourth conference on confidence-building measures (after the conferences in Athens in 1998, Istanbul in 1999 and Yalta in 2001). The fourth conference would address all aspects of the peace process aimed at rebuilding confidence between the sides.

2003, January 13 - The substantive negotitions on the future status of Abkhazia within the State og Georgia have been continued. The consultations with both sides on ways to bring about such negotiations on the basis of the paper entitled "Basic Principles for the Distribution of Competences between Tbilisi and Sukhumi" and its transmittal level is remained. In November 2002, the Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations together with Heidi Tagliavini, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia, visited Tbilisi and Sukhumi and held talks with the leadership of the two parties. The Abkhaz side emphasized that the framework set out in the paper - territorial integrity for Georgia, wide autonomy for Abkhazia and international guarantees - provided enough room to explore how the legitimate interest of both sides could be accomodated in a final settlement.

It was not possible to overcome the Abkhaz refusal to engage is substantive discussions on the paper on competences since the Abkhaz side continued to assert its unilateral declaration of independence of 1999. The Abkhaz also cite the armed Georgian presence in the Kodori Valey as a reason for not entering into negotiations.

The Georgian side, for its part, has been deeply upset by a campaign by the Abkhaz to acquire Russian citizenship and to promote closer ties to the RF, as exemplified by reopening of the railroad between Sukhumi and Sochi on 25 December 2002 - stated in the Report of the Secretary-General concerning the situatuinb in Abkhazia, Georgia.

2002, December 3 - UN Secretary General's Group of Friends on Georgia discussed Abkhazian issue. Press Release.

2001, July 19 - The Group of Friends of the Secretary-General, in close consultation with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia, has intencified its efforts to finalize the draft paper on the distribution of competences between Tbilisi and Sukhumi with a view to submitting this framework document to the sides in the near future so as to initiate meaningful negotiations on the future political status of Abkhazia, stated in the Report of the Secretary-General concerning the situatuinb in Abkhazia, Georgia.

2001, January 18 - The Group of Friends of the Secretary-General, whose support for the draft document for the distribution of competencies between Tbilisi and Sukhumi is indispensable, has yet to arrive at a coordinated possition. In November 2000, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia visited Moscow for consultations. Despite his efforts there and numerous top-level meetings with the parties to the conflict, no substanstive progress was made on the draft document. The Abkhaz side continues to refuse to discuss any document that would address the status issue, stated in the Report of the Secretary-General concerning the situatuinb in Abkhazia, Georgia.

2000, October 25 - During the past 3 months, efforts of the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General, including visits of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia to capitals, to arrive at a coordinated draft document addressing basic principles for the distribution of competencies between Tbilisi and Sukhumi have not yet succeeded - stated in the Report of the Secretary-General concerning the situatuinb in Abkhazia, Georgia.

2000, April 24 - During the past 3 months the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Georgia, Dieter Boden continued to carry out consultations and preparatory work. In pursuance of Security Council Resolution 1287 (2000), work continued on the question of the distribution of constitutional competences between Tbilisi and Sukhumi. A revised draft paper on this issue was distributed in mid-March to the RF, as facilitator, and to the members of the Group of Friends of the Secretary_General, incorporating their comments on the original draft. Further discussions are under way with a view to finalizing the draft in the near future and submitting it to the sides in the conflict, stated in the Report of the Secretary-General concerning the situatuinb in Abkhazia, Georgia.

2000, January 18-19 - During the 9th session of the Coordinating Council of the Georgian and Abkhaz sides, convented at Tbilisi (after nine-month hiatus), and in pursuance of Security Council Resolution 1255 (1999), a draft document entitled "Basic Principles for the distribution of constitutional competences between Tbilisi and Sukhumi" (known as well as Boden Document) has been submitted for comments to the representatives of the RF as facilitator, OSCE and the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General. It is envisaged that, at a later stage ways of moving this issue forward will be explored with the two sides - stated in the Report of the Secretary-General Conserning teh situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, S/2000/39

1999, July 30 - The Security Council adpots the Resolution 1255 (1999) where it underlines, that supports the intention of the SecretaryGeneral and its Special Representative, in close cooperation with the RF, it its capacity as fasilitator, the OSCE and the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General, to continue to submit proposals for the consideration of the parties on the distribution of competences between Tbilisi and Sukhumi as part of a comprehensive settlement, which includes a settlement on the political status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia.

1998, July 23-25 - The second meeting of the Georgian and Abkhaz sides took place in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations, with the participation of representatives of the Russian Federation, in its capacity as facilitator, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the States belonging to the group of Friends of the Secretary-General, namely France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, as observers.

1997, November 19 - The resumed meeting between the Georgian and Abkhaz parties was held in Geneva under the auspices of the United Nations with the participation of representatives of the Russian Federation acting as facilitator, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the states belonging to the Group of Friends (formerly the Friends of the Secretary General on Georgia) created by the Secretary-General in 1994 consisting of France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, acting as observers.

1997, July 23-25 - The first part of the meeting between the Georgian and Abkhaz parties was held in Geneva. The question was raised of the status of the countries of the Friends of the Secretary-General on Georgia. After extensive consultations, a decision was taken that the status of this Group of Friends of the Secretary-General of the United Nations should be analogous to the status of the other groups of friends of the Secretary-General.

They may participate in meetings and make statements and proposals on various aspects of the peace process, including a political settlement. They are not parties to the negotiations and shall not be invited to sign documents agreed upon during the negotiations by the parties.

The decision was made to establish the Coordinating Council and the working groups, they will meet under the chairmanship of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations or by his authorized representatives, with the participation of representatives of the Russian Federation as facilitator, representatives of OSCE, and with the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General;

Meetings of the sides will be held periodically to consider the progress of the negotiations on the main aspects of the comprehensive settlement of the conflict.

These meetings will be chaired by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General. They will take place with the participation of the Russian Federation in its capacity as facilitator, with the OSCE, and the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General under the conditions defined above.

The Group of Friends of Georgia since 1993

1996, May - The ambassadors from the five countries (France, the UK, the USA, Germany and Russia) met with the de-facto president Vladislav Ardzinba in Sukhumi to discuss options for resolving the conflict. (1.)

1993 - The Friends of Georgia, with representatives from France, the UK, the USA, Germany and Russia was set up to aid the UN Secretary General in the peace process.

The Group of Experts 1993

1994, February 8-10 - Second meeting of the Group of Experts to address the issue of the political status of Abkhazia. The meeting took place in Moscow.

At the suggestion of the Chairman of the Group of Experts, Mr. Giorgio Malinverni of Switzerland, the Group examined two points:

(a) the division of competences between the Georgian authorities and the Abkhaz authorities; and

(b) national and international guarantees, the rights to be recognized as those of Abkhazia and the mechanisms that might possibly be envisaged for the implementation of the competences decided.

Also at the suggestion of the Chairman, the Group of Experts avoided using abstract terms such as "confederation", "federal State" or "regional state", but rather concentrated on the practical question of how the competences might be arranged between the two entities that might compose the future State.

Both sides made proposals in this context and discussion revolved around the division of competences between those that would belong to each entity and those that could be common (e.g., foreign policy, foreign trade, customs, border arrangements).

By the end of the meeting, it was the view of the Chairman that the points of view of the two delegations seemed to have drawn visibly closer. He believed that discussion was leading towards a type of confederal structure and even, in certain respects, a federal structure. Nevertheless, he recognized that a number of difficult and delicate problems remained to be addressed and he suggested that the points of view of the two parties on certain fundamental aspects should be addressed.

1993, December 15-16 - The first meeting of the Group od Experts took place in Moscow consisting of representatives of the parties to the conflict, the UN, the RF and an observer of the CSCE to prepare recommendations on the political status of Abkhazia.

1993, November 30 - December 1 - The first round of negotiations on a comprehensive settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict took place in Geneva. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoA) between the Georgian and the Abkhaz sides have been signed.

Among others the agreement was reached to set a Group of Experts, including representatives of the parties, the United Nations, the Russian Federation and CSCE for preparing recommendations on the political status of Abkhazia. The Group will begin work in Moscow in early December 1993. The Group will submit its report at the next round of negotiations.

Suggested APA citation of this page:

Tsikhistavi-Khutsishvili, N. (Ed.). (2023). Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding Historical Archive of Georgia by the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation (ICCN). Retrieved /month, date, year/ from https://iccn.ge/index.php?article_id=551&clang=1

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