EUMM reports details of current tension at Tskhinvali occupation line
The EUMM mission has reported the details of the tension at the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area. Photo: EUMM Georgia.
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The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), which is the only mission deployed in Georgia after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war, has provided details regarding the current tension at Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region ‘‘due to the level of press interest and to dispel inaccurate reports.”
The EUMM says that in January 2019 their monitors noted markings on trees in the area between Tsnelisi [Kareli municipality of Georgia under the Russian control] and Chorchana [Khashuri municipality of Georgia, Tbilisi-administered territory].
The EUMM mission head to Georgia Erik Hoeg tweeted.
#EUMM press release about recent developments at the South Ossetian ABLhttps://t.co/fbJHkGWqBw
— Erik Hoeg (@erik_hoeg) September 16, 2019
The Mission assesses these as a feature of ‘borderisation’. However, no actor has claimed responsibility for these markings,” the EUMM reported.
The EUMM says that between 20 and 24 August a new Georgian observation post was established on the outskirts of the village of Tsnelisi by Tbilisi.
The post is located some 240 metres away from the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) and on Tbilisi-administered territory (TAT) in accordance with the traditionally understood run of the ABL in that area,” the EUMM reports.
The mission writes that responding to the opening of the police post the de facto authorities “established new positions and installed a number of borderisation features, including ‘green signs’ and flags on the Tbilisi-administered territory.”
#EUMM patrols continue in Chorchana/Tsnelisi. After 3 IPRMs positions still far apart, but talks continue. EU has called on actors to show restraint and avoid steps that escalate situation, also urging all to use EUMM-managed hotline and IPRMs to lower tensions through dialogue. pic.twitter.com/E8wgJKVHyP
— Erik Hoeg (@erik_hoeg) September 7, 2019
The features are up 1.3 kilometres beyond the ABL,” the EUMM says.
The statement reads that the EUMM and OSCE have since 29 August facilitated four extraordinary technical meetings within the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism format to defuse tensions and to identify possible concrete solutions for a more permanent de-escalation. However, ‘positions remaining irreconcilable.’
The mission also notes that two crossing points at Tskhinvali ABL - Odzisi and Sinaguri - have remained closed since September 4 2019.
No concrete indication has been given as to when they will reopen, while statements from security actors of Tskhinvali have linked the closures to the ongoing developments in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area,” the EUMM says.
The EUMM reports that they see these measures as harmful restrictions of movement, which negatively impact commuters from both sides of the ABL, especially affecting the population living in or regularly commuting to the Akhalgori valley.
Co-chairs of the Geneva International Discussions (GID) said the closure of the crossing points between Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region and the rest of Georgia “is creating additional hardship for the local people and is further raising tensions”.
The fourth meeting with members of the de facto Tskhinvali government, organised to ease recent tension at the occupation line, has ended without results. The situation became more tense at the end of August when the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali protested the opening of an ordinary police post in the village of Chorchana, Khashuri municipality, on Tbilisi administered territory.
The Georgian State Security (SSS) says that the occupying forces are carrying out illegal works at two locations within Tbilisi-administered territory, near the village of Chorchana, in the Khashuri municipality. "The actions are destructive and carry high threats, making the situation tense on the ground and complicating the lives of locals,” SSS told the IPN news agency.
The de facto Tskhinvali government has announced the closure of two crossing points with the rest of Georgia, saying the reason is an ‘escalation of tension at certain sections of the border with Georgia.’The so-called security committee of Tskhinvali has accused Tbilisi of sparking the tension, stating that the crossing points will reopen when the tension fades.
The US is concerned by the current tension at the Tskhinvali occupation line and the closure of so-called borders which further complicates the situation on the ground and creates serious humanitarian problems, Acting US Ambassador to Georgia Elisabeth Rood said.
The de facto leadership of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region has announced a temporary closure of a so-called checkpoint at the village of Perevi in western Georgia. The de facto security committee of Tskhinvali says that the reason for the closure between 8 pm on September 20 and 6 am on September 22 is the so called Day of the Republic of South Ossetia.
Tbilisi has condemned the ‘temporary closure’ of a so-called checkpoint at the village of Perevi in western Georgia by the de facto government of Georgia’ Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region, saying that such steps not only violate the right of locals to free movement, but also create a humanitarian crisis.
Georgian Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has stated in parliament earlier today that at the moment she was delivering a speech in parliament, Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region was “was almost fully isolated” from the rest of Georgia.
Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) to Georgia Erik Hoeg has briefed the Political and Security Committee (PSC) ambassadors from EU member states on the recent developments at the occupation line with Georgia’s currently Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (so-called South Ossetia) region in Brussels.
The European Union Monitoring MIssion (EUMM) reported that earlier today its patrol “was briefly held by armed South Ossetian security actors”, while conducting a patrol in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area, close to the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region.
De facto authorities of Georgia’s Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region say that the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) monitors were held yesterday as they “illegally crossed the border in the village of Tsnelisi (Kareli Municipality, under the Russian control),” adding that the action by the EUMM was “provocative.”
The US is concerned by current developments at the occupation line, near the village of Chorchana, acting US Ambassador to Georgia Elisabeth Rood has stated earlier today, referring to the erection of new barriers by Russian-controlled occupation forces at the village of Chorchana, Khashuri municipality, on the Tbilisi-controlled territory earlier this month.
EUMM Georgia, which is the only monitoring mission patrolling at occupation lines in Georgia, has a new head. Marek Szczygiel, a long serving Polish diplomat, has today been appointed the new head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia, EUMM Georgia has reported.
The de facto government of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region has accused Tbilisi and the European Union Monitoring Mission of ‘secretly collecting biological materials of the South Ossetian (Tskhinvali) people, which serves the goal of continuing our genocide.’
40-year old Gela Gariev has died in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, as local doctors could not diagnose his medical problem and offer him appropriate care, reports RFE/RL.
EUMM Georgia, the only foreign mission in the country which monitors the occupation lines at the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali occupied by Russia, has received new VAMTAC SK95 trucks which are able to access difficult locations.
Speaking of the ‘grave’ humanitarian situation in the occupied region, the Georgian State Ministry for Reconciliation and Civic Equality said that the death of Inal Dzhabiev on August 28, like other fatal accidents in recent years, lays on the de facto Tskhinvali leadership.
The de facto authorities of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region will partially lift restrictions on crossings of the administrative line separating the region from the rest of Georgia starting on Saturday, the Georgian State Security Service said on Friday.
Members of the Austria-South Caucasus parliamentary friendship group, headed by chairman Andreas Minnich, visited parts of the administrative boundary line with Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on Monday.
Marek Szczygieł, the head of the European Union monitoring mission in Georgia, on Wednesday hosted a delegation of the Council of European Union Working Party on Eastern Europe and Central Asia in the central Georgian village of Odzisi, adjacent to the country’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, to brief them about consequences of the occupation.