The issues of violation of the airspace of the Republic of South Ossetia by aircraft and their ownership became the main topics of the next meeting within the framework of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM).
According to the head of the delegation – DeputyPresidenial Plenipotentiary Envoy for Post-Conflict Settlement Yegor Kochiev, the Georgian police were also present in the drone launch zone on the territory of Georgia on April 20 and 23.
"The South Ossetian party has stated at the meeting that this is a ready provocation and a precondition for the incident when the Georgian police condone the use of aircraft. On this occasion, in both cases, a hot line was used, but, as always, the Georgian police" saw nothing and do not know anything ", referring to the fact that, allegedly, they were launched by some private individuals. Although judging by their reaction it was possible to understand that they are nevertheless aware of these facts," the Deputy Plenipotentiary stressed.
He has added that the Georgian police are obliged to prevent such incidents, while they, on the contrary, condone their commission, which is a provocative action. Moreover, for the first time the drones were recorded by the South Ossetian border guards, and it was established that two Georgian police officers were present at their launch.
“For the second time, four representatives of the Georgian law enforcement agencies have already witnessed the launch of the quadcopters. All these cases were discussed via the “hotline.” Nevertheless, this format is a very good tool by means of which we can prevent and resolve many incidents and accidents. which take place in the border area, "Kochiev explained.
During the dialogue, the Georgian party raised the issue of arresting the violators of the RSO state borderline. The South Ossetian party has noted in response that, first of all, the laws of the Republic of South Ossetia are violated, and each violator is responsible for his actions.
Uista on the agenda
The situation in the Uista (Tsnelis) area, which escalated in August 2019, when the Georgian police set up the illegal post on the territory of South Ossetia, was also raised. According to Yegor Kochiev, this issue was raised in the light of the problems of crossing the state border.
"Moreover, the Georgian party, including international representatives, is activating the issue of facilitating the crossing of the state border at the places of simplified admission. As it is known, the checkpoints were closed in response to the setting up of the illegal Georgian post in the Uista area. And the first step in resolving this situation will be the removal of this illegal post. from the territory of South Ossetia. I think after this step the issues of simplified border crossing and other pressing humanitarian issues will be resolved, "he said.
The meeting also discussed incidents that occurred on the territory adjacent to the state border, as well as the epidemiological situation on both sides of the state border and other topical issues that are important for the population living along the state border.
