Time in Tbilisi: March 19, 2024 06:23
State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has criticised the de-facto leadership of Georgia’s occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) for their decision to close the so-called border with the rest of Georgia to avoid the spread of H1N1 flu.
“The situation in Georgia is not an epidemic and on the other hand, this flu is spreading in many other countries including Russia. We always care about our citizens in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali and we could help them as well in case of a spread of the flu with necessary medication. Closing the so-called border does not have any justification. This will serve as an additional restriction for people to whom moving around the so-called border is vitally important,” Tsikhelashvili said.
She has added that the government of Georgia has enacted all the existing mechanisms: the EUMM, UNHCR and parties of the Geneva international talks have been informed in order to ensure that the closure of the so-called border will not continue for long and to ‘defend those people who might have health problems but are not allowed to move across the border’
The H1N1 the flu has claimed 15 lives in Georgia.
The government of Georgia has made the anti-flu medicine Tamiflu free of charge for all Georgian citizens.
De facto leaderships of two Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) have decided to close the so-called border with the rest of Georgia to “avoid the spread of H1NI,” the flu which has claimed 15 lives in Georgia.
Leading Georgian pharmacies have decided to decrease the price of anti-flu medicine Tamiflu, the cost of which formerly ranged between 72-99 GEL.
Studies at Georgian public schools and kindergartens have been postponed until January 21 due to the spread of flu. Up to 640 people are being treated in the country's hospitals for the virus, 39 of them are receiving critical care. According to official data 10 have lost their lives to the swine flu.
The Georgian National Disease Control Centre has decided to reveal the statistics of flu in Georgia over the past 10 years to dispel speculations that 2018-2019 is an “exceptionally bad year” in terms of flu.
Georgian schools have reopened to students today after a week delay in studies due to the flu.
Twelve days have passed since the closure of so-called borders by the de facto authorities of two occupied regions of Georgia Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to avoid the “spread of flu.”
The Georgian occupied region of Abkhazia has re-opened the so-called border with the rest of Georgia yesterday, which was closed on 11 January by the de facto leadership of the region “to avoid the spread of swine flu.” Erik Hoeg, the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) head to Georgia, tweeted the news yesterday.
The 91st Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism Meeting (IPRM) in the occupied Ergneti village of the breakaway Tskhinvali region has ended, during which the occupying forces stated that the newly erected lookout tower near the Khurvaleti village was needed “to better control the border.”
Occupying forces have decided to temporarily open the so-called checkpoint in the Akhalgori area, currently occupied by Russia, to allow for up to 200 residents of the territory to leave the district.The closure created serious problems for students, who needed to leave the territory and those who generally visit doctors in the other Georgian regions.
The so-called security committee of the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region of Georgia says that the so-called border with the rest of Georgia will reopen on March 15, at 18:00.
The central Georgian government has called upon Russia and the de facto leaderships of the two Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to reopen so-called borders with the rest of Georgia, which were closed on 11 January “to avoid the spread of swine flu.”
Co-chairs of the Geneva Internal Discussions from the EU, UN and EU, dealing with Georgian conflict issues, are in the Russian occupied Abkhazia region of Georgia to discuss the details of the recent death of Georgian citizen Irakli Kvaratskhelia in the region.
The State Security Service of Georgia reports that a young Georgian man, Irakli Kvaratskhelia, has reportedly committed suicide in the Gali district, in Georgia's Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia. Kvaratskhelia, born in 1990, had been allegedly detained by de-facto authorities.
The so-called border between the Georgian occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region and the rest of Georgia has reopened after about a two-month closure, the European Union Monitoring Mission head to Georgia Erik Hoeg has confirmed.
Inhabitants of the Akhalgori district in eastern Georgia, which is now occupied by Russia, will have to get special passes in order to be able to visit the rest of Georgia.
The de facto leadership of Georgia’s eastern occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region has announced plans to close the so-called border with Georgia for two days, due to May 9 celebrations.
The de facto leadership of Georgia’s eastern occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region says that ‘illegal border crossings’ between Georgia and the region have increased more than two times in the first half of 2019 compared to the same period of the last year.
The Georgian State Security says that the temporary closure of the so-called border between Georgia and the country’s occupied region of Abkhazia by de facto authorities is an illegal restriction of the right of movement of locals, which isolates them and complicates their livelihoods.
60-year-old woman Tamar Gigauri fell into a well of seven meters deep in Georgia’s Russian- occupied Akhalgori district yesterday, but the Tskhinvali occupation regime is not allowing her family to transfer the woman to a Tbilisi hospital. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, Georgian Minister of Reconciliation and Civil Equality, urged all decision-making bodies to guide by humanitarian principles and not to endanger the health of the injured woman from Akhalgori region.
The German Embassy to Georgia has stated that ‘borders which are based on inhumanity will never last long,’ urging Russia and its controlled de facto government of Tskhinvali to recall why the Berlin Wall collapsed.
De facto Foreign Minister of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region Dmitry Medoev has been refused entry to Austria to participate in a conference there between November 7 and 10, the de facto Foreign Ministry of Tskhinvali has reported. De facto government of Tskhinvali is sure that Tbilisi stands behind the refusal
EU Spokesperson Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Maja Kocijancic says that the rising tension along the occupation line with Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region “is completely unacceptable.” She stated that the EU calls on all actors “to show maximum restraint and refrain from any steps or statements that could escalate the situation”.
Famous Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces on Saturday, has been charged with “deliberately crossing the border” by de facto Tskhinvali, while three other Georgian citizens illegally detained between November 9 and 11 have been released.
Famous Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili and three others have been illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces, the Georgian State Security Service has confirmed.
Famous Georgian doctor and traumatologist Vazha Gaprindashvili, who was illegally detained by Russian-controlled occupation forces on Saturday, has been sent to two-month pretrial detention, Radio Liberty reports, citing Gaprindashvili’s wife Tamila Lapanashvili. A local media and a de facto security agency of Tskhinvali also read that "Tskhinvali court has ruled against Gaprindashvili" and sent him to pretrial detention.
The Russian-controlled de facto government of Georgia's occupied Abkhazia region has plans to revoke 'residency permits' of the local students who receive higher education on the Tbilisi-controlled territory, de facto head of Gali district administration Temur Nadaraia told Nuzhnaya Gazeta.
Georgia’s Russia-controlled region of Abkhazia has banned entry of non-Abkhaz at the so-called Enguri and Psou crossing points as of February 4, 2020, allegedly in an attempt to avoid the spread of seasonal viruses and the new China-born coronavirus, the chief medical officer of de-facto Abkhazia Lyudmila Storik told Sputnik
There is not enough food in Georgia’s Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region, with dairy products and children’s food still in particular deficit. It has been more than two weeks since food has not entered from Russia into the region due to ‘certain, technical problems,’ while the de facto authorities illegally closed crossing points with the rest of Georgia in early September of 2019.
The Russian occupation regime has banned movement from Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia region to Tbilisi-controlled territory on October 2, reports the Georgian State Security Service (SSS).