European officials face Russian-erected barbed wire fences in Georgia
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European officials have come face-to-face with the harsh reality facing dozens of locals when they visited a village along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) and the rest of Georgia.
Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov and Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni visited Khurvaleti Village and saw how the barbed wire fence had divided the village into two isolated parts.
Data Vanishvili lives at the Russian-controlled side of the fence while all of his neighbours are at the other side. Photo by MFA Georgia.
The man in the picture above is David (Data) Vanishvili, who has been trapped in the Russian-controlled part of the village for several years. Read more about his hard life here.
Photo by the MFA Georgia
At the site today the European officials witnessed the tense humanitarian situation resulting from the unlawful installation of barbed wire fences by Russian occupying troops. The officials said they kept "a close watch” over the developments in Georgia’s occupied territories where violations of human rights and property rights were continually reported.
"There is an urgent need to find peaceful ways to resolve this situation,” the officials said.
Mitov and Battaini-Dragoni were in Georgia on an official visit. As part of the trip they participated in the official launching of the Council of Europe Action Plan for Georgia (2016-2019) yesterday.
1/2 Action Plan 4 #Georgia 2016-2019 : Protecting & promoting human rights & dignity, ensuring social rights pic.twitter.com/6kXu9cLBwI
— MFA of Georgia (@MFAgovge) May 9, 2016
The document included projects that had been or will be carried out by the Council of Europe in Georgia during the period from 2016 to 2019 that aimed to promote cooperation with the Government of Georgia towards strengthening human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
The Action Plan was adopted by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers in March 2016 through consultations between the Georgian Government and the Council of Europe.
Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili is hosting Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Gabriella Battaini-Dragoni and Bulgaria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Daniel Mitov in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.
Permanent representatives of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have faced a harsh reality when they visited a village along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) and the rest of Georgia today.
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.
A Latvian high official is in Georgia and learning about the challenges facing locals at the occupation line separating Georgia with one of it's breakaway regions.