In a Fight Over Names, Russia Vetoes a U.N. Mission Near Georgia

Russia and the West found themselves deadlocked once again over the status of Georgia’s breakaway territories on Monday, as Russia vetoed the extension of the United Nations monitoring mission in Abkhazia.

The United Nations mission was created 16 years ago to monitor a cease-fire between Abkhaz separatists and Georgia, and it consists of about 130 military observers. Their departure will mean that no international observers will remain inside the conflict zones that set off the war between Russia and Georgia last August.

A similar standoff has forced the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe to begin shutting down its mission, which has been monitoring South Ossetia, another breakaway enclave, since 1992.

Russia was the only member of the Security Council to vote against a measure to briefly extend the Abkhaz mission’s life, in the hope of negotiating a more long-term solution. Ten countries voted for the extension, and four countries — China, Libya, Uganda and Vietnam — abstained.

At issue is Abkhazia’s status after Russia recognized it as a sovereign nation, a step that only Nicaragua has followed.

Georgian leaders say the mission should remain the “United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia.” But Russia, and separatist authorities, say they will not allow the mission to remain unless its name and its mandate are changed to reflect Abkhazia’s independence from Georgia.

Vitaly ChurkinVitaly Churkin, Russia’s envoy to the United Nations, said a draft resolution offered by Western members was “blatantly unacceptable” and “political poison,” because it contained references to the “U.N. Observer Mission in Georgia” and commitments to Georgia’s territorial integrity.

“It was beyond anybody’s imagination that it could be accepted by the Russian Federation and Abkhazia,” Mr. Churkin said, according to a transcript from the Federal News Service Inc.

United Nations officials have made it clear that they want to continue their work. Johan C. Verbeke, the special representative who leads the mission, told Reuters that its removal would “basically leave the population on their own.”

As officials tried to seek a middle ground, Georgia made its dissatisfaction clear. The most recent report on Abkhazia from the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-Moon, released in May, does not refer to “Abkhazia, Georgia” as previous reports did, but instead mentions only “the Mission” rather than the “Mission in Georgia.”

Alexander Lomaia, Georgia’s ambassador to the United Nations, reacted angrily, saying, “It is very unfortunate and alarming that the Secretariat has submitted to Russian blackmail.” Mr. Ban “categorically rejected” Mr. Lomaia’s claim in a statement released the next day, saying his wording “reflected his view of what all members could live with.”

Georgians, including many who fled their homes in Abkhazia in the early 1990s, followed news of the Council’s vote, worried that new language would open the door to Abkhaz independence. Outside the United Nations office in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, where several dozen demonstrators gathered, Ada Marshania said she planned to pelt the office with eggs if the organization “dares to keep this title that Abkhazia is not a part of Georgia.” Rusudan Lobjanidze, 60, stood and wept silently.

“If they declare Abkhazia independent today, we will never return,” Ms. Lobjanidze said. “My 90-year-old mother asks, every morning, to be buried in her homeland.”

On a separate front, Tbilisi was jolted by violence again on Monday when police officers used clubs to disperse a crowd of about 100 anti-government demonstrators, arresting 39. Officers also attacked journalists and seized their equipment.

Eka Zguladze, Georgia’s deputy interior minister said the protesters were blocking the entrance of Tbilisi’s central police station, and officers had identified some as activists who had thrown eggs at members of Parliament last week. She apologized for injuries to journalists and said the police should not have taken away their cameras.

“This is our mistake, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs wants to acknowledge it,” Ms. Zguladze said. “It is our duty to protect the right of journalists to work.”

Diplomats from France, the United Kingdom and the United States condemned protesters’ attacks on members of Parliament, which occurred last Friday. The United States Embassy released a statement, saying their actions “crossed a line from free expression of opinion to criminal activity.” Opposition leaders said foreign diplomats should not involve themselves in internal politics.

“This is considered as interference in domestic political processes, which they are not entitled to do,” said Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia’s former foreign minister and the leader of the Georgia’s Way Party, according to the Interfax news agency.