OSCE defends record over Chechnya peace mission .
BONN 1996-08-30
The head of an international mediating mission defended its record on Friday in the face of criticism by pro-Moscow leaders in breakway Chechnya and insisted it was doing its best to bring peace to the region .
Flavio Cotti , the chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) , told German radio the Vienna-based body viewed the conflict in Chechnya as an internal Russian problem .
" The OSCE is completely involved .
But one must not forget that the OSCE only has limited powers there , " said Cotti , who is also the Swiss foreign minister . "
Our mission in Chechnya has done all it can within the given limitations . "
Pro-Moscow leaders in Chechnya have criticised Tim Guldimann , the Swiss diplomat who heads the OSCE Chechnya mission , saying he was biased toward Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev , president of the self-declared separatist government .
Russian peacemaker Alexander Lebed and Chechen separatist military leader Aslan Maskhadov started a new round of peace talks on Friday just outside the rebel region .
Cotti said Chechnya must remain part of Russia , but the solution to the conflict would be to accord the region maximum autonomy within Russia 's borders .
" There is no doubt that Chechnya , according to OSCE principles , belongs to a state called Russia , " he said , pointing out that Russia was an OSCE member and it was not the organisation 's policy to challenge members ' sovereignty .
He added that the OSCE was the only international body which has been allowed into the Chechnya to monitor the human rights situation there , but that its means were restricted by the fact that the conflict was a " internal issue " .
" We have a small concept , the details of which have yet to be worked out .
Chechnya must be accorded the maximum autonomy possible within the framework of Russian integrity , " said Cotti .