EU experts meet near occupied Tskhinvali to discuss border village issues

Conflict resolution experts descended on the eastern Georgian village of Ergneti to discuss issues that are plaguing residents near the occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and its nearby areas.

Freedom of movement and access to land was high on the agenda of last week’s 62nd meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) group in Ergneti, facilitated by the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM). 

EUMM, which is the only international mission monitoring the situation between Georgia and its breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, said meeting participants discussed a wide range of challenges faced by local communities living along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between Georgia and occupied Tskhinvali. 

During the meeting the foreign experts welcomed the calm security situation in the area and the willingness of stakeholders to jointly address security concerns by using the hotline launched by EUMM to support the everyday life of the local population.

According to the EUMM, the meeting participants also welcomed the new co-facilitator of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Ambassador Guenther Baechler, who was appointed on January 1, 2016 as the Special Representative for the South Caucasus by the German chairmanship of the OSCE Frank-Walter Steinmeier. 

The IPRM of the EUMM is an unarmed civilian monitoring mission established by the European Union (EU) on September 15, 2008 to contribute to the stabilisation of the ground situation following the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. 

The next, 63rd IPRM meeting will take place on February 24.