Foreign Ministry calls on occupation forces ‘to cease illegal activities’ in Georgia

The Georgian Foreign Ministry is concerned that the “occupation forces occupied the hilltop in the vicinity of the village of Chorchana, installed a so-called ‘border’ sign and stepped up works to deploy a so-called checkpoint there”.

• De facto Tskhinvali building road to new ‘police post’ in Tsnelisi, erects flag and ‘border sign’

The Foreign Ministry said the recent “illegal and provocative activities” across the occupation line, “form a chain of processes” which aims to “push” the Government of Georgia to start “so-called demarcation-delimitation procedures”.

These illegal activities include:

• the erection of artificial barriers
• illegal detention of Georgian civilians
• mobilisation of military equipment and personnel
• “groundless” accusations and ultimatums

However, the Foreign Ministry said, "this is a futile attempt", which is unacceptable to the Georgian authorities, as "the internal administrative border does not require any demarcation”.

Statement of @MFAgovge over t/ recent developments across t/occupation line:Ministry calls on t/occupation regime to cease its illegal activities aimed at destabilizing the situation & ensure constructive participation in t/GID or in t/IPRM https://t.co/EnYXRXZqEr

— MFA of Georgia (@MFAgovge) September 7, 2019

The Foreign Ministry also condemned Tskhinvali’s decision to close the so-called border with Georgia.

[It] grossly violates fundamental human rights, including the right to free movement, puts the population of the Tskhinvali region of Georgia in complete isolation and exacerbates the already difficult humanitarian situation on the ground”, it said. 

It further noted that “such steps only cause further destabilisation of the situation and undermine the peaceful efforts of the Georgian government, as well as of the international community”.

• Full Foreign Ministry statement

The Foreign Ministry called on:

1. the occupation regime to cease its illegal activities that are aimed at destabilising the situation and restricting the fundamental rights of the conflict-affected population 
2. the Russian Federation to respect its international commitments, implement the ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008, take effective measures to de-escalate the situation 
3. the international community to give due reaction to the occupation regime’s illegal and destructive steps and take effective measures to prevent them from continuing.