Word: reporter
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Russia received its fair share of blame. The attack by Georgia was "the culminating point of a long period of increasing tensions, provocations and incidents," the report says. In the run-up to the war, Russia issued passports to South Ossetian citizens, which the investigators say "runs against the principles of good neighborliness and constitutes an open challenge to Georgian sovereignty and an interference in the internal affairs of Georgia." More ominously, the report notes that there seemed to be an "influx of volunteers or mercenaries" from Russia to South Ossetia in early August 2008. (See pictures of the Russians...
...Georgia said the investigation proved that Russia had been preparing for war all along. "We are glad that almost all the facts we have alleged have been confirmed, in particular that armed Russian units entered Georgia before August 7," says Salome Samadashvili, Georgia's ambassador to the E.U. "The report confirmed that Russia committed an act of aggression against a sovereign state, thus breaking the U.N. charter." (Read "In South Ossetia, Families Remain Torn Apart...
...Beyond Tbilisi and Moscow, the report was welcomed as a basis for both sides to start anew. Ulrike Lunacek, an Austrian member of the European Parliament who sits on a committee focused on Georgian affairs, says it is important to look beyond mere finger-pointing. "It is not helpful to start a blame game - both sides played their role and share the blame. And both sides need to do something to resolve the issue," she says...
...Lawrence Sheets, Caucasus project director of the nonprofit organization Crisis Group, is skeptical about whether the report will change anything. "Russia has firmly re-established its geopolitical position in the region, so there is almost no prospect of Georgian reunification," he says. Since the cease-fire, Russian troops have effectively sealed the border between South Ossetia and the rest of Georgia, and increased their military presence in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia. But while Moscow has recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations, only Nicaragua and Venezuela have followed suit...
...authors of the report note that the security situation in the region has not improved. "Though both sides stress their commitment to a peaceful future, the risk of a new confrontation remains serious," the document reads. If the reactions of Georgia and Russia to the inquiry's findings are anything to go by, whatever lessons the report holds may well be lost...