EU Ambassador calls for reopening occupied Tskhinvali crossing points after 2-year closure
De facto Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) officials closed the Odzisi crossing-point connecting the region with the rest of Georgia in 2019. Photo: Erik Hoeg/Twitter
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European Union Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell calls on the de facto authorities in the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali and the Russian Federation to allow for the reopening of all crossing points’ at the occupation line.
My comments on the need to reopen all crossing points at the South Ossetian administrative border line:
— Carl Hartzell (@CarlHartzellEU) September 5, 2021
➡️https://t.co/8Ao5iFPlxX pic.twitter.com/AslYmrETvK
Ambassador Hartzell said that today marks the two-year anniversary of the closing of the Odzisi crossing point prior to which, ‘up to 400 crossings would take place on average every day’.
For the past two years, ethnic Georgian residents of the Akhalgori District have been unable to cross and meet their relatives, collect their pensions or exercise their right to education in their native language”, Carl Hartzell said.
Further, access to medical care has been hampered, while reports of food and medicine shortages persist. In this regard, the recent easing of procedures regulating medical crossings from the Akhalgori District has been a welcomed development”, he added.
Noting that the ‘EU is confident that a sensible and adequate COVID-19 testing strategy can be implemented in order to allow for greater freedom of movement’, the EU Ambassador said ‘the EU Monitoring Mission stands ready to facilitate further discussions within the framework of the Ergneti IPRM’.
- Read Agenda.ge's multimedia story about Russian occupation: EU's eyes and ears on Russia's creeping occupation of Georgia
De facto Tskhinvali officials close the Odzisi crossing-point connecting the region with the rest of Georgia on September 5, 2019.
During a meeting with Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili discussed the economic cooperation between the two countries, emphasising the importance of further deepening this cooperation, especially in the post-pandemic period.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister of Lithuania Gabrielius Landsbergis has visited the administrative boundary line (ABL) by the Russia-occupied Georgian region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) with the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) today.
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 Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) Erik Hoeg said the recent decision of de facto Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) officials to close the so-called border with the rest of Georgia is “negatively affecting local communities” on both sides of the occupation line.
US citizen Jackson Poll Cramer, who was illegally detained by the Russian-controlled occupation forces in the Java district of Tskhinvali region on August 26, was released yesterday. Cramer, who was visiting Georgia as a tourist, accidentally crossed into the occupied territory and was taken to Tskhinvali prison for ‘illegally crossing the border.’ The de facto authorities have tried to use him for propaganda and took him to Tskhinvali museum and a cemetery ‘where the victims of Georgian aggression are buried.’
The United States Embassy and the European Union delegation to Georgia have denounced the parliament’s failure to approve constitutional amendments aimed to ensure ‘broad, multi-party support for an impartial prosecutor general’.