De facto Tskhinvali refuses to let Georgian’s visit graves at Easter

Representatives of Georgia’s de facto Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region are refusing to allow Georgians onto the breakaway territory to visit the graves of their loved ones for the Easter holiday.

This result came after a five-hour meeting today of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) group, facilitated by the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in the central Georgian village of Ergneti. 

The de facto side said no exceptions would be in place and the only people allowed to cross the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) separating Georgia from its occupied territory were those who had special permission cards issued by de facto authorities allowing them this right.

Representatives from Tskhinvali also denied Georgia’s urge to release two Georgian citizens who had been detained by the occupied forces for illegally crossing the so-called border several days ago. 

The de facto spokesperson said the Georgian citizens would only be released from prison if a court issued a verdict that allowed their release.

Today’s IPRM meeting failed to reach any major agreement between Georgian and de facto Tskhinvali leaders, however the sides did agree to implement and activate joint irrigation systems that would support the agricultural industry for both sides.

This agreement meant Georgia’s central Government and the de facto leadership would come together to find a way to establish an effective irrigation system and jointly care about the irrigation infrastructure in the future.

In Georgia Easter is celebrated at the end of April and early May.