OSCE member states call on Russia to stop illegal borderisation in Georgia
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The Russian occupation of Georgian territories and recent acts of land-grabbing were discussed at the OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) yesterday.
The Permanent Council, OSCE’s principal decision-making body for regular political consultations, was given detailed information about the latest developments along the Russian occupation line in Georgia.
Georgia’s deputy permanent representative to OSCE Maka Bochorishvili told the meeting participants about the new "border” signs erected by the occupation forces in the Georgian villages of Bershueti, Tsitelubani and Khurvaleti. She summed up the illegal activities by Russia in the occupied region and nearby area, including the installation of artificial barriers, in the first half of 2017.
Meeting participants and representatives from all OSCE member states made statements in support of Georgia.
#Russia’s continued occupation of #Georgia’s Abkhaz and South Ossetian regions is unacceptable. https://t.co/00wrcji7bV
— U.S. Mission to OSCE (@usosce) July 13, 2017
A United States representative said that the ongoing occupation of Georgian lands is unacceptable and urged Russia to rescind its recognition of the two Georgian regions as independent units.
"The placement of such markers has a direct and negative impact on the well-being of all living in the area, harming their livelihoods, and restricting their freedom of movement, putting the vulnerable, including those requiring medical treatment, at greater risk", the US representative said.
A representative of Canada condemned the process of the so-called borderisation, which only makes it difficult for locals to move freely, and called on Russia to avoid actions that violate Georgia’s territorial integrity.
A representative from the European Union stressed that such actions by Russia have a negative effect on a peaceful resolution of the conflict and they need to be stopped.
The United Kingdom's delegation to the OSCE tweeted:
#EU strongly supports Georgia's sovereignty & territorial integrity & calls on #Russia to fulfil its obligations under ceasefire agreement. pic.twitter.com/QdTeZm0UP5
— UK Delegation OSCE (@UKOSCE) July 13, 2017
The OSCE Permanent Council meetings take place once a week in Vienna. The Permanent Council is the principal decision-making body for regular political consultations and for governing the day-to-day operational work of the OSCE between the meetings of the Ministerial Council.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has expressed his concern over the developments in the Russian occupied regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Davit Dondua introduced the diplomatic corps to the recent developments in the Russian occupied regions of Georgia – Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
Georgia’s Reconciliation Minister Ketevan Tsikhelashvili made a statement concerning the importance of the peaceful resolution of conflicts and stressed Georgia faces not a banner erected by occupants, but serious forces behind the banners.
Georgia’s permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) Kaha Imnadze has discussed the Russian occupation of Georgian regions with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
A group of Georgian citizens have gathered near the occupation line separating the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region from the rest of Georgia today.
United States (US) Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly has travelled to the occupation line where an illegal "border” marked by the Russian troops separates Georgian farmers from their agricultural lands.
The president of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili told 25 OSCE ambassadors visiting Tbilisi that the country’s occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) should not be excluded from international monitoring.