University applicants from occupied Abkhazia allowed onto Tbilisi-administered territory to take exams
It is unknown when the de facto leadership of Abkhazia will allow for the free movement of locals. Photo: Erik Hoeg’s Twitter page.
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University applicants living in Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia will be able to cross over onto Tbilisi-administered territory to sit exams, Georgian Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili says.
The only checkpoint was closed on June 27 by the de facto leadership of Abkhazia.
We are trying our utmost to remove the limitation. As of now, students, individuals who are in need of medical assistance and pensioners are allowed to leave the region,” Tsikhelashvili stated.
A number of university entrants from Abkhazia were unable to sit yesterday’s Unified National Examinations in Georgian language and literature as the de facto leadership of Abkhazia closed the Enguri Bridge crossing-point connecting the region with the rest of Georgia.
Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission to Georgia Erik Hoeg wrote on his Twitter.
#EUMMGeorgia deeply concerned about restrictions imposed yesterday at controlled crossing points at Abkhaz ABL. #EUMM patrols today confirm significant decrease of movement across ABL. Decision severely restricts freedom of movement & harms livelihoods of local residents. pic.twitter.com/xOAHJsycg7
— Erik Hoeg (@erik_hoeg) June 28, 2019
The de facto Abkhaz leadership announced that the “entry of foreign citizens from the territory of Georgia, as well as the departure of citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia to the territory of Georgia” will be restricted for an undefined period of time amid recent protest rallies in Tbilisi.
Georgian Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili said the same day that the Georgian government was taking all measures for the so-called border to be reopened as soon as possible.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said the issue will be raised at the next round of the Geneva International Discussions on July 2-3.
A number of university entrants from Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Abkhazia were unable to sit today’s Unified National Examinations in Georgian language and literature as the de facto leadership of Abkhazia closed the Enguri Bridge crossing-point connecting the region with the rest of Georgia.
Carl Bildt, who is the co-chair of a pan-European think-tank European Council on Foreign Relations, responded to the Russia’s recent calls for boycotting tourism and trade goods with Georgia, as well as the closing of Enguri Bridge crossing-point connecting the occupied Abkhazia with the rest of the country, amid protest rallies in Tbilisi.
The Georgian State Security says that the temporary closure of the so-called border between Georgia and the country’s occupied region of Abkhazia by de facto authorities is an illegal restriction of the right of movement of locals, which isolates them and complicates their livelihoods.
The de facto leadership of Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Abkhazia announced a temporary restriction on crossing the so-called border between the region and the rest of the country amid the recent protest rallies throughout Georgia.
A Georgian student has severely cut his hand while trying to cross the occupation line between Georgia and its western occupied Abkhazia region yesterday, as the de facto authorities closed the only checkpoint with the rest of Georgia on June 27.
Students of all grades in Georgia’s Russian-occupied, mostly ethnic-Georgian-inhabited Gali district will have to receive secondary education in Russian, the de facto Abkhaz Education Ministry has decided.