Welcome!

The Security Council has discussed our proposal, which is based on the law being discussed in parliament concerning our peace plan for South Ossetia.

I believe that the time has come for us to begin making concrete proposals and offers and also take bold, concrete steps towards the political resolution of the South Ossetia conflict.

We are offering all forces, including those which for years have fought against the Georgian state, a five-point plan that addresses all issues concerning conflict resolution and the region's status.

We are inviting all forces, without exception, to work together on the final peaceful resolution of the conflict and the settlement of relations in the framework of an autonomous unit within Georgia.

At this stage the Georgian government is offering them the creation of a temporary administrative unit in order to prepare for the creation of a permanent autonomous unit.

We are offering to all forces that have heretofore been engaged in conflict the creation of a temporary transitional administrative unit whose function, as part of negotiating process with the Georgian government, will be to work on rebuilding the region, protecting the rights of all people and determining and formulating the region's final status and, ultimately, the peaceful resolution of the conflict.

First of all we are proposing the formation of a temporary administration and the creation of the post of leader of this administration.

This administration will have the right to appoint special deputy ministers in Georgia's Ministries of Internal Affairs, Economic Development, Finance, Education and Science, Healthcare and Social Welfare, Culture, Justice, Agriculture and Environmental Protection.

These deputies will have a special mandate to deal with the resolution of problems on the territory of this unit.

In the future, when the autonomous unit is created, we are ready to give this unit, which will be represented by ethnic Ossetians, even higher permanent representation in the Georgian central government. We are offering those forces that will create the administrative unit a special packet of finances for the rehabilitation of the region and its future development.

I want to emphasize that all these steps are aimed at ensuring the security and welfare of ethnic Ossetians, ethnic Georgians and all people living in this region, as well as towards establishing peaceful relations among all ethnic groups.

This initiative aims to ensure that no kinds of conflict will ever again arise and that doubt will never again be cast on our unified country's borders and its future.

We intend to take energetic steps to this end.

At the same time, everyone must understand that members of society belonging to all ethnic groups have grown weary of these years of fruitless talks. Such a situation has taken shape where the majority of the local community is effectively not represented. Military structures and other states' interests are represented, but the local community is effectively ignored.

The function of the administrative unit will be to ensure that the local multiethnic community, whose members want peace with each other, is well represented. These are people who want their children to grow up in a normal situation.

The function of the administrative unit will be to equally represent ethnic Ossetians, Georgians and people of other ethnicities who truly want to create a single society and community.

There is no tension or division based on ethnic grounds. This concept has been imposed on us from without.

Our challenge is to fully represent these people in all kinds of negotiations because the current talks format does not allow for this.

We are ready to continue talks formally and informally. We intend to hold negotiations with all parties without exception, including representatives of Russia and other foreign countries.

That which we are creating will make it possible to ensure that the local community, who wants to achieve peace and to find a way out of this blind alley, once again has a voice in society.

We can no longer maintain the status-quo.

We want to find a constructive, peaceful way out of this blind alley which years of mindless, artificially drawn-out negotiations have brought us into.

We will resolve this issue while taking into consideration the interests of all people and all ethnic groups. Society's patience is running out.

We, the government, are ready to be demanding but flexible and at any stage involve new forces in this process and give them the chance to have a voice in making decisions.

At the same time, we are oriented towards acting quickly and constructively and accordingly, achieve results.

I believe that all political forces have the political will for this - this has been confirmed by parliamentary discussion on this document.

We are extending the hand of peace and friendship to all of our compatriots irrespective of ethnic origin. We are extending our hand to those who for one reason or another have not been integrated into state structures. We have peaceful intentions.

We want ethnic Ossetian compatriots, who over the course of many years have lived in our multiethnic country and shared a common history with us, to regain their place in our society and take part in the governance and everyday work of the state.

We also want them to have complete local governance where they live in the form of the autonomous unit we plan to create. Our proposal does not have a set timeframe. From 1 May we plan to submit a relevant document to parliament and we are ready to set to the formation of a temporary administration.

From 1 May the Georgian state plans to move from talk to action. We will take concrete steps and publish concrete legal acts about the formation of this administration and the conditions which will ensure the welfare of each and every person and the just resolution of autonomy and self-governance issues.

I believe that this is a historic chance for peace, a chance for each person, irrespective of origin, both here, in this specific region and in the country as a whole.

Press Office
of the President of Georgia