Breakaway Tskhinvali closes so-called administrative boundary line

Georgia’s eastern occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) leadership has announced that it is closing the so-called administrative boundary line with the rest of Georgia today, regarding the 73th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War, when the Soviet Union defeated Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 armed conflict.

The checkpoint will be closed at 8 pm today and will open at 8 pm on May 10.

The Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze stated that Georgia will use all its levers to end the illegality and remove the barriers which hinder the free movement of people.

We will use all the peaceful levers, instruments and international formats the barriers to be removed as soon as possible,” Janelidze said.

The Georgian Minister of Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili stated that Russians and the representatives of the occupied region are being engaged with stirring provocations.

One of such provocations took place yesterday when occupants did not let local people pray in a church, in the village of Adzvi on Saint George’s Day,” Tsikhelashvili said.

Such an action opposes not only the law, but also human values,” she added.

Tskhinvali was recognised as an independent region by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and Nauru in the wake of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.

The rest of the international community says that the regions are occupied by Russia.