UN policemen deployed in Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone

The first contingent of UN police will be deployed in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone at the end of October. As a Rosbalt correspondent was informed at the UN office in Georgia, both sides have agreed to this measure.

The UN spokesman said that the initial contingent deployed in the Galsky region of Abkhazia, which borders Georgia, will only consist of 20 people. They will train the Abkhazian and Georgian police how to operate in the conflict zone in order to ensure the safety of returning refugees. This idea has been tried in many post-conflict areas including Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina. If the UN police's work is effective, a further contingent of UN police will also be deployed in the region. Its headquarters will be located in the Abkhazian capital of Sukhumi.

The decision to ensure the safe return of refugees to the Galsky region of Abkhazia was taken at a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze in Sochi in March of this year. They agreed that joint Georgian-Russian-Abkhazian economic projects must also be introduced including the reconstruction of the Inguri power plant. Arkady Volsky, president of the Russian union of industrialists and entrepreneurs, announced on October 16 that 300 Russian specialists will soon arrive in the region to help reconstruct the power plant.