UN diplomats visit Georgian village near occupation line

A group of United Nations diplomats are in Georgia to learn about the difficult life of those living in villages that border the occupation line.

Barbed wire fences and conditions of poverty were some of the things the team of seven Permanent Representatives of the UN saw during their visit to Khurvaleti village, which is located near the Administrative Boundary Line of Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia).

There, the UN officials spoke with people who had been forced from their homes by conflict.

"We constantly provide the Permanent Representative of the UN with information about Georgia and all the challenges that the country faces, but it is always better to see [such situations] with your own eyes,” said Georgia's Ambassador to the UN Kakha Imnadze.

Among the UN diplomats were Permanent Representatives of Guinea, Grenada, Jamaica, Cabo-Verde, East Timor, Tonga and Uganda. They all looked around the village and saw the barbed wire fences and the population who lived on the other side of the so-called border.

Imnadze said the UN guests were shocked at what they saw.

"They were surprised with the fact that the barbed wire fence crosses the village.”

"When the foreign diplomats leave Georgia they will tell the other countries what they have seen in Georgia. There are seven ambassadors currently visiting Georgia and more than seven countries will hear the story about Khurvaleti village,” he added.

Seven Permanent Representatives of the UN visited Khurvaleti village.

The Permanent Representatives to the UN arrived in Georgia on March 31.

While in Georgia the UN guests arranged meetings with officials of the legislative and executive branches of the Government, as well as with officials from the Public Service Hall and the Service Agency of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Discussions focused on current issues relating to bilateral and multilateral cooperation, as well as on prospects for development of economic relations. The foreign diplomats were briefed about the ambitious reforms the Georgian Government had carried out and was continuing to carry out in various area. The Georgian side noted the Permanent Representatives’ close interest in the reforms, so expressed its readiness to share the country’s experience as it implemented various reforms on its path towards European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Since the foreign diplomats arrived in Georgia they have also met with Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili, in which the sides discussed the prospective of developing economic relations.

"We have met the UN Ambassadors who still do not have representations in Georgia, although we have a diplomatic relationship with them,” President Margvelashvili said.

"Furthermore, it is very important to raise the issues which are linked to improving Georgia’s [global] awareness. The results of this meeting will be reflected on Georgia’s foreign image,” Margvelashvili said.

According to the UN, visits of UN Ambassadors abroad was part of the established practice that "considerably contributes to the deepening of bilateral relations with various countries”.