Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 245: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs if there are plans to recognise South Ossetia in view of recognition being afforded to Kosovo; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [12849/08]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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At the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) on 18 February, EU Foreign Ministers underlined that Kosovo represented a unique case because of the legacy of the conflict of the 1990s and the fact that it has been under international administration since 1999 as provided for in UN Security Council Resolution 1244. The clear reality is that Serbia effectively lost Kosovo through its own actions in the 1990s. The legacy of the killings of thousands of civilians in Kosovo and the ethnic cleansing of over a million made the restoration of Serbian dominion in Kosovo unthinkable.

The situation in South Ossetia is unrelated to that of Kosovo. The dispute in the Georgian territory of South Ossetia, where separatists sought to break away from Georgia in 1991-92, has been the subject of a long-running conflict resolution process under the auspices of the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The EU supports this process, both as an observer and through funding a number of Confidence Building Measures in the region. Since Georgia regained its independence in 1991, all members of the international community, including Ireland, have recognised its territorial integrity and sovereignty within its international borders.