Ergneti talks: security at occupation line ‘relatively stable’
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The security situation on the administrative boundary line (ABL) between Georgia and its Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) was assessed as relatively stable, European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said.
Sharing information about today’s Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting in Ergneti EUMM said participants reviewed incidents and occurrences that have taken place since the previous IPRM meeting.
Co-Chairmen of the 82nd IPRM meeting Ambassador Guenther Baechler, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus and Erik Hoeeg, Acting Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (in the center), open the session in Ergneti. Photo by EUMM Georgia
However, EUMM said, "concerns were expressed over several specific cases of detention and shooting of firearms in the vicinity of the ABL”.
Particular attention was paid to release of Georgian citizen Giorgi Giunashvili who is illegally detained in Tskhinvali so called prison, as well as to necessity of transparent investigation into the case of Akhalgori resident Davit Basharuli”, the Georgian State Security Service said.
Illegal process of "borderisation” including installation of barbed wire fences and signs, and the way these activities are affecting people residing close to the ABL were also discussed at the meeting.
The next IPRM meeting will take place on December 19, 2017.
Tbilisi says that no customs crossing point can be opened at the occupation line between breakaway Tskhinvali region and the rest of Georgia because this kind of facility can only operate at a state border.
Georgian officials, representatives of international organisations and the de-facto authorities from Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) have gathered around the table in Ergneti to discuss issues that concern people living along the occupation line today.
A total of 327 Georgian citizens have been illegally detained by Russian-controlled guards near the two Russian occupation lines in Georgia in 2016, says the Georgian State Security Service in its annual report.
Georgian farmers whose lands fell behind the occupation line after Russia advanced 2km into Georgian territory earlier this month, will be able to freely access their harvest.
A Georgian citizen sentenced to 20 years in prison for alleged crimes by an unrecognised court in Georgia's Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) has been released today.
Georgian officials, representatives of international organisations and de-facto authorities from Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali have gathered around the table in Ergneti to discuss issues that concern people living along the occupation line today.
Members of the de facto leadership of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) from Georgia’s Russia-occupied region say that they will continue the erection of illegal barbed-wire-fences, which is strongly condemned by the central Georgian government.