Polish president Duda visits Georgian village near occupation boundary
Andrzej Duda received an assessment of the local situation from the EUMM mission which involves 17 Polish nationals. Photo via Embassy of Poland in Georgia.
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Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, paid a visit to the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) deployed in the central Georgian village of Odzisi, near the administrative boundary line separating the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region from the rest of the country, on Georgia's Independence Day on Thursday.
Hosted by EUMM staff - which includes 17 Polish nationals of the mission - at the location, Duda received an assessment of the situation in the area that includes a crossing point over the boundary but has been closed for regular traffic since September 2019.
Coming on Independence Day celebrations in Georgia, the visit saw Ambassador Marek Szczygieł, the head of the mission, report to the Polish president on the "negative impact" of the recurring process of installation of fences and observation posts by the occupation forces along the administrative line.
@prezydentpl visits Administrative Boundary Line in Odzisi.
— PLinGEORGIA (@PLinGEORGIA) May 26, 2021
Many thanks to:@EUMMGeorgia_HoM and @EUMMGeorgia for your support. ???? pic.twitter.com/A6OybKe2kF
The Head of Mission [...] stressed the negative consequences that the prolonged closure of the Odzisi controlled crossing point [...] on conflict-affected population in terms of their access to medical care, education or agricultural land and other human rights
- European Union Monitoring Mission
Their summary detailed effects of the process - known with the term "borderisation" - on human rights and humanitarian situation for local communities affected by the limitation of their freedom of movement across the boundary, the EUMM said.
President @AndrzejDuda is now exchanging with Nana to hear more on the challenges that she and other internally displaced persons (IDP) continue to face in their daily lives. She lives and runs an NGO in the Tserovani IDP Settlement pic.twitter.com/sp68nuf1sj
— EUMM Georgia (@EUMMGeorgia) May 26, 2021
During his visit the President of Poland also met members of the community displaced in the 2008 war and the subsequent borderisation process, and heard about the challenges facing the internally displaced persons in the circumstances.
The visit came on day-long celebrations of Georgia's national independence date, with Duda addressing the official ceremony in Tbilisi by telling citizens of the country "we [the Polish people] are waiting for you in a united Europe" and adding Georgia "deserves freedom, security and prosperity”.