Deputy Minister of MFA meets the European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus

By Khatia Bzhalava

Tuesday, October 13

The sides focused on the difficult safety, human rights, and humanitarian situation in the occupied territories.

The Geneva International Discussions were launched in October 2008 to address the consequences of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.

The European Union Special Representative for the South Caucasus Toivo Klaar met with the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Lasha Darsalia on October 12th, 2020. Mr. Toivo Klaar announced on his official twitter page about his visit to Tbilisi and Sokhumi noting that the meeting would focus on local issues, but “regional developments will also loom large in the background.”

The sides emphasized the difficult situation in the occupied territories regarding safety, human rights, and humanitarian issues, “which has further deteriorated against the background of increasing provocations by the Russian Federation during the pandemic.”

According to the information published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, the sides discussed the issues of suspending the process of so-called ‘borderization’ as well as the release of Georgian citizens illegally detained in Sokhumi and Tskhinvali.

Attention was also focused on the harsh humanitarian situation in Gali and Akhalgori and the need of providing free movement. The minister stressed the steps taken by the government of Georgia, which were aimed at assisting the people affected by the conflicts during the pandemic. Darsalia noted that the government of Georgia will continue its efforts to alleviate the impact of the occupation regime on the local population.

The parties talked about the timely continuation of the Geneva International Discussions(GID). The Deputy Minister expressed concerns over breaking off the 51st round (October 6-7) of GID by Russian Representatives and called on the partners with a request to take effective measures to ensure that the round of discussions takes place in December. The sides paid attention to the need to achieve progress on key issues on the agenda of the Geneva International Discussions. Also, as the ministry noted, the need for restoring Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in the Gali region was emphasized.

The Deputy Minister thanked the EU and its Special Representative for the efforts directed at resolving Russia-Georgia conflicts and added that on the background of worsening the situation, it is even more important the topics related to the occupied territories of Georgia to remain on the agenda of the EU.