South Ossetia criticizes EU mission for visiting its 'border'

By Tea Mariamidze

Thursday, September 19

A representative of breakaway S. Ossetia Murat Jioev says the visit of EU observers was “illegal”

Two crossing points at the occupation line with Tskhinvali, Odzisi and Sinaguri, have been closed since September 4

Russian-occupied region of Georgia, South Ossetia, expressed concern regarding the European Union observers who visited the administrative boundary line (ABL) earlier this week.

Murat Jioev, a special representative of the so-called President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov, stressed that the visit of the EU observers to the right-bank of the Tsnelisi settlement was “illegal.”

“They have no mandate on the territory of South Ossetia, so every visit is unlawful. The EU mission has the mandate to work on the territory of Georgia, in the areas bordering Abkhazia and South Ossetia, but not on the territory of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,” he said.

The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) said on Monday that “a substantial, continuing presence of armed security actors in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area” and establishment of multiple new positions across the occupation line, deep into Tbilisi-administered territory, along with the concentration of armed personnel increases the potential for encounters and constitutes a risk to stability.

According to the EUMM, Georgian observation post was established between 20 and 24 August on the outskirts of the village of Tsnelisi by the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) Special Tasks Department, some 240 meters away from the boundary line, inside the Tbilisi-administered territory.

The organization also noted that security actors from South Ossetia have in the last week established new positions and installed a number of borderisation features, including ‘green signs’ and flags on the Tbilisi-administered territory side of the ABL as traditionally understood in this area.

On August 29, at the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting, mediated by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Union, the breakaway South Ossetian delegation demanded the removal of the Georgian roadblock and then walked out of the meeting after Georgia had turned down the offer.

Following this, breakaway South Ossetia put up own roadblocks near the village and beefed-up presence in the border area. At the latest IPRM meeting on September 13, representatives of Tskhinvali and Georgia failed to come to an agreement on the recent developments, agreeing to carry on the negotiations.

In addition to this, two crossing points at the occupation line with Tskhinvali, Odzisi, and Sinaguri, have been closed since September 4.

EUMM stated there has been no concrete indication when the crossing points will reopen, stressing these measures, as harmful restrictions of movement, negatively impact commuters from both sides of the ABL.

Moreover, Acting US Ambassador to Georgia Elisabeth Rood stated that the US is concerned by the current tension at the occupation line near Georgia’s Russian-occupied South Ossetia region and the closure of crossing-points, adding her country calls on Russia to fulfill the terms of the 2008 ceasefire agreement and withdraw its forces from the Georgian territory.

She added the US is also concerned about the closure of the crossing points, asking for the de facto authorities to reopen them.