Foreign diplomats witness results of occupation near breakaway Abkhazia

Foreign ambassadors to Georgia have this weekend visited western Samegrelo region to witness what it’s like to live near an occupied territory in the 21st century.

About 40 Georgia-accredited diplomats visited a bridge on Enguri River in the Rukhi village in Zugdidi region. The bridge connects Samegrelo region with occupied Abkhazia.

"We are here today for foreign diplomats and representatives of international organisations to see with their own eyes the results of occupation in the 21st century and to understand how difficult it is for local residents to live at either side of the occupation line,” Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze said.

"We also wanted to show the diplomats those project that we are implementing here to ensure our peace policy,” he added.

The diplomats visited a shopping centre in Rukhi village that opened this spring. The centre aimed to let residents from both sides of the bride buy what they needed as well as give them a space where they can communicate with each other.

Photo by MFA Georgia

As part of the diplomatic tour the Ambassadors also visited a new high-profile hospital being built in Rukhi, offering treatment to Georgian and Abkhazian citizens.

In addition to the hospital with 220 beds, a hotel-type dormitory will be built, which will enable relatives of patients the ability to stay close to the hospital when necessary.

Photo by MFA Georgia

The construction of the facilities was expected to finish in 2017.

Janelidze said such projects aimed at letting Abkhazians benefit from the services Georgia offered its citizens.

The diplomats were informed that during the past four years more than 3,500 infrastructural projects launched in Samegrelo, the region that bordered the Administrative Border Line of Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia.