BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) – Eight Eastern European countries pledged Nov. 9 to support Georgia in resolving two separatist conflicts which have plagued the former Soviet country for more than a decade.
The group, which includes Romania, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova and Bulgaria, gathered in Bucharest in a reunion dubbed “The new friends of Georgia.”
The eight former Communist countries offered to help Georgia in its drive to get closer ties with the West and better enforce its borders.
Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia since the early 1990s.
Georgian authorities have repeatedly accused the peacekeepers of siding with separatists and failing to help the return of ethnic Georgian refugees to their homes.
“We have presented a detailed peace plan for South Ossetia,” said Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili. “Russia says it’s not realistic but I ask them to read it again and come back with a positive position,” she added.
Both breakaway provinces have enjoyed close ties with Moscow, which has granted Russian citizenship to many of their residents.
