President of European Council concerned by creeping annexation, death of Georgian citizen in Tskhinvali

IDFI said Georgia lost lost control of 135 residential sites in Tskhinvali after 2008 Russian-Georgian war. Photo by N. Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
Agenda.ge, 08 Mar 2018 - 16:33, Tbilisi,Georgia

The President of the European Council Donald Tusk has expressed his concern over the death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili and the detention of two others in Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).

Meeting with Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili in Brussels, Belgium today, Tusk said the European Union (EU) remains fully committed to conflict resolution efforts and supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders.

We are concerned about the attempts of creeping annexation in the two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia”.
The recent tragic death of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili and the detention of two others in South Ossetia was a sad reminder of the costs caused by the conflict”, Tusk said.

Tatunashvili and two other Georgian citizens citizens Levan Kutashvili and Ioseb Pavliashvili were detained by occupation forces on February 22 in the area of Akhalgori, on territory currently controlled by Russians.

Fourteen days after Tatunashvili’s death, his body has not been handed over to his family for burial, while Kutashvili and Pavliashvili still remain in occupied Tskhinvali.

Upon the request of Georgian Patriarch Ilia II Russian Patriarch Kirill has promised to mediate in the process of handing over Tatunashvili’s body to Tbilisi-administered territory in the shortest period of time possible.