Georgian FM: ‘humanitarian crisis in occupied regions is main challenge’
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has responded to the death of 70-year-old Margo Martiashvili in Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Georgian Foreign Ministry David Zalkaliani has stated that the humanitarian crisis in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions [of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali] is one of the major challenges for the government, responding to the recent death of a woman in Tskhinvali due to the closed ‘checkpoint” with the breakaway region.
Our citizens wake up surrounded by barbed-wire-fences and are deprived of freedom of movement which is absolutely unacceptable. It is necessary for the international community, all actors involved in the Geneva International Discussions – the OSCE, EU, UN and the US to react to the issue,” Zalkaliani said.
He again raised the issue while meeting with the US Department of States Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center Lea Gabrielle earlier today, during the NATO-Georgia Public Diplomacy Forum in Tbilisi.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has met with US Department of States Special Envoy and Coordinator of the Global Engagement Center Lea Gabrielle. Photo: Foreign Ministry press office.
Zalkaliani told Gabrielle that apart from the continued violation of human rights in the Georgian occupied regions, Russia is actively campaigning against Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration and is spreading disinformation.
He said that Georgia is in need of help from the US and it’s western partners to combat the occupation and the anti-western campaign.
Gabrielle said that the US is ready to share its experience against disinformation and aggressive propaganda.
EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell says that the death of 70-year-old Margo Martiashvili, who suffered a stroke in the Russian-occupied Akhalgori district and was unable to be transported to the Tbilisi-administered territory because of the closed “checkpoints” with Tskhinvali, is “tragic, and we are doing our best for the crossing points to be reopened.”
The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) offers its “sincere condolences” for the “unfortunate death” of Margo Martiashvili, who suffered a stroke in the Russian-controlled Akhalgori district yesterday.
Margo Martiashvili, who suffered a stroke in the Russian-controlled Akhalgori district, has died earlier today in the hospital of occupied Tskhinvali as her relatives were unable to transport her to the Tbilisi-controlled territory via the shortest route due to the closure of the so-called border.
De facto authorities of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region say that the tension at the villages of Chorchana and Tsnelisi will be eased only if and after Tbilisi removes a police post in Chocrhana, located on the territory which is under the control of the central Georgian government.
Acting US Ambassador to Georgia Elisabeth Rood says that the US is concerned by the recent death of a woman in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region due to closed crossing points and urged for the reopening of the so-called checkpoints by the occupation forces.
13,859 families living near Georgia’s Russian-occupied territories will receive 200 GEL vouchers to cover heating expenses, Georgia’s State Ministry for Reconciliation and Civic Equality stated today.
Georgian Minister of Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has delivered a speech in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament yesterday, speaking ‘on behalf of the Georgian people living in the Russian-occupied Akhalgori district, where the humanitarian situation is particularly severe due to the closure of the crossing point with the rest of Georgia,’ in September 2019.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has delivered his first speech at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) as the head of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE), stating that consolidated, international pressure against Russian illegal activities in Georgia and other countries must continue.“Situation in the Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali has become worse."
President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili has called upon the international community to react to the violation of elementary humanitarian principles in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region after the confiscation and prohibition of Georgian-labeled medicines from the occupied territory.
Two pharmacies in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region had a number of Georgian-labeled medicines confiscated by the de-facto Ministry of Internal Affairs of Tskhinvali region, reports Radio Liberty.
Residents of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Akhalgori district have to receive Ossetian passports in order to get pensions, reports the Democracy Research Institute (DRI) NGO. Several pensioners have already been granted Ossetian citizenship under a simplified procedure in Akhalgori district.
A man from Georgia’s Russia-occupied Abkhazia has died after crossing the Enguri River to enter Tbilisi-controlled territory to meet with a family member, reports RFE/RL.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani says that the restoration of relations with Russia is possible only after the country withdraws its forces from Georgian territory.