President criticizes barbed wire installation

Residents living in a village near where Russian troops have begun installing barbed wire fences have shared their plight with Georgia's President Giorgi Margvelashvili.

The country’s leader visited the Atotsi village last night and met with residents who were living near the occupation line.

The local community introduced Margvelashvili to their dire situation and said for the past four days Russian troops had actively begun installing the illegal fences.

The President was accompanied to Atotsi with the country’s Secretary of the Security Council, Irina Imerlishvili, and Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure David Narmania.

At the meeting with village community, Margvelashvili said the wire fences cannot stop humans from having normal relationships.

"We see that construction of barbed wire fences has been renewed. This action is directed against humans and is opposing the spirit of the United Nations, [and in violation of] OSCE declarations that Russia has signed,” Margvelashvili said.

"I urge the international community to speak out on this issue that is directed towards aggravating the conflict,” the President said.

The Georgian side will discuss this issue at the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting in Ergneti today.

Meeting participant Gocha Ratiani, who is head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Analytical Department, said this problem would be heavily discussed.

"At the meeting we will discuss those issues and incidents that took place after the last IPRM meeting. Of course we will once again heavily discuss the problem of constructing barbed wire fences and the new situations that is occurring in Atotsi,” he said.

"Some call this shifting of the border line. We cannot confirm that the line has been shifted yet, but the process of the wire installation has really taken place,” he noted.