75 foreign diplomats face barbed wire 'border'

Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hosted a diplomatic tour where non-resident and resident Ambassadors accredited in Georgia visited the occupation line and found themselves facing barbed wire fences.

Diplomats from 75 countries visited Georgia within the diplomatic tour for the third time, while 22 non-resident Ambassadors arrived in Georgia within the framework of the tour.

Within the tour, the Ambassadors visited the occupation line near Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, a breakaway region of Georgia which is now occupied by Russia. There they witnessed the difficult conditions of how locals live in the conflict zone.

Visit to the barbed wired zone seems to be impressive for the foreign diplomats. 

The Ambassador of Sweden to Georgia Martina Quick shared her impressions on her official Twitter accont:

Visiting the ABL with Russian-occupied #SouthOssetia at #Khurvaleti on @MFAgovge#diplomatictrip 2015 pic.twitter.com/wb8JGGYfAt

— Martina Quick (@martinaquick) May 25, 2015

Read more about the reality of Georgian citizens who went to bed in Georgia and woke up in so-called South Ossetia one perfect morning in Lali Tsertvadze's article "Easter behind barbed wire". 

This year’s tour was fully dedicated to Georgia’s seaside. The diplomats visited Batumi, Georgia’s Black Sea coastal city, where the local government briefed guests of the region’s tourist and investment potential.

Initially the diplomats took a train from Gori to Batumi, which informed them about the operations of Georgian railways.

The Foreign Ministry said these kinds of tours were a good opportunity for diplomats to get a better idea of the situation in the country.