Russia’s creeping occupation: New road runs through locals’ orchards

Russian occupational forces are building a new road near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between breakaway Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) and the rest of Georgia. 

Residents of Georgia’s Jariasheni border village in Gori district said the road ran through their pastures and orchards and they were now unable to access parts of their land, including apple trees which provided a source of income. 

Representatives from the European Union’s Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia travelled to the ABL to observe the situation at the ground. Afterwards head of EUMM Georgia Kestutis Jankauskas met Georgian officials to discuss the situation with them.

Jankauskas said EU monitors would continue their efforts to find out "what exactly was going on there” and the issue would tomorrow be discussed at an Ergneti meeting where Georgian officials, representatives of de facto Tskinvali and international conflict resolution experts would convene.   

Yesterday Georgia’s Deputy Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said the Foreign Ministry had used all the available tools to inform the international community about the recent developments along the ABL. 

He said all three co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions - EU, Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and United Nations (UN) representatives – were already informed of the situation.  

"We keep in touch with the EU Monitoring Mission and the EUMM head, who is studying the details on the ground. This issue will be discussed at the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meeting in Ergneti on Tuesday,” Zalkaliani said.

"Also, at the upcoming round of the discussions due to be held in Geneva in the second half of March, Georgia will raise this issue. It is important for us to inform the international community and consolidate their position to avoid an escalation of these processes and further installation of barbed wire fences, as well as moving the border further into Georgia-controlled territory.”