OSCE Chairman to participate in Geneva talks on Georgia crisis

HELSINKI, 13 October 2008 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, will take part in a meeting on the crisis in Georgia taking place in Geneva tomorrow. 

The EU will be represented by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, High Representative Javier Solana and Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, and the United Nations by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The meeting precedes negotiations at the level of special envoys which begin on 15 October and will include representatives from the EU, the UN, the OSCE, the United States, Russia and Georgia. In addition, the representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia will take part in the talks.

The OSCE will be represented by the Special Envoy of the Chairman-in-Office, Heikki Talvitie. OSCE Secretary General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut will also take part.

The Geneva talks are part of a peace agreement negotiated by the presidents of France and Russia. The aim of the talks is to advance regional peace and stability and the return of the refugees.