Archive - 8/2009

There is no curfew in Sinagur area, including the village of Perevi, says the Head of Sinagur village administration Lev Gagiev, commenting on the reports of Georgian media that “curfew has been introduced in the village of Perevi, Sachkhere district”.
’’The life here is normal. The population is engaged in agriculture. No one had heard about curfew. The inhabitants can freely move. As to the border-guards, they were following their routine duties”, said Gagiev.

On 10 August, The Head of the EUMM in Georgia Hansjorg Haber gave an interview to Berliner Zietung, in which he expressed his vision on the work of the EUMM and what kind of problems it had faced. Merab Chigoev, Deputy Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement and representative to the IPRM working group, shared his opinion on whether or not EUMM official's statements were objective.
Merab Chigoev: The first impression is that there is nothing extraordinary, a routine interview of a representative of Europeans structures to one of European newspapers. There is one “but” about it. This is a misinterpretation of facts by Mr. Haber.

After a long break, a preparatory meeting of working groups within the frames of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was held. The meeting was convened upon the initiative of the Co-Chairmen of the Geneva talks on security in the Caucasus and the EUMM in Georgia. The Deputy Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement Merab Chigoev informed the IA RES about the meeting held in Dvani (Kareli district of Georgia). “The meeting was attended by the RF delegation, EUMM, Georgian and Ossetian sides.”

A session of the Government Commission on Delimitation and Demarcation of the State Border with Georgia was held in Tskhinval. The session was presided by the Commission Chairman Boris Chochiev. “We have addressed a note to the RF Foreign Ministry requesting facilitation in preparation on relevant maps. The work is being carried out in the RF agencies and structures with an active inter-agency coordination. They will soon establish a Delegation for delimitation and demarcation of the border with South Ossetia and then we will start our joint activities based on a bilateral agreement. At this stage, we have to identify our borders, both on maps and on the ground”, said Boris Chochiev in his introductory speech.

On 11 August, upon the personal request from the Special Representative of the OSCE Greek Chairmanship Ambassador Charalampost Christopoulos, he was expected to visit South Ossetia to discuss the proposals on OSCE presence in the Republic of South Ossetia. As reported by Boris Chochiev, the Special Representative for Post-Conflict Settlement, an agreement has been reached that Ambassador Christopoulos would arrive at the border with South Ossetia by a vehicle provided by the Greek Embassy in Georgia, and “on our territory, the transportation will be supported by UNHCR Mission in the RF.”
“Yesterday, we learnt that the UNHCR vehicles cannot arrive from Russia. Ambassador Christopoulos suggested arriving by the vehicles of the Greek Embassy in Georgia. Our response was that we could not agree since South Ossetia is a sovereign independent state and visitors cannot move on our territory by vehicles of embassies represented in other states. We offered him with our transportation. In response he refused due to unclear reasons. Therefore, the visit was cancelled”, said Chochiev.

The criminal actions of Georgia against Ossetian people had not been yet condemned”, stated the RSO President Eduard Kokoity in Tskhinval during the space bridge Tskhinval-Vladikavkaz-Mscow-Brussels. “Today is a day of mourning for our people.
It is the day when Georgian aggression against South Ossetia began. I would like to express the words of gratitude to Russia and Russian people for support to the brave decisions taken by the Government. This was extermination of small Ossetia people. Nobody had condemned these actions yet. To prevent any similar events in the world, the United States and Europe should condemn those who had been militarizing Georgia and those who committed this aggression. Impunity give rise to new crimes”, said Eduard Kokoity.

Armed Forces of South Ossetia are conducting a routine exercise to increase their level of combat readiness and professionalism. The exercise are conducted at the fire-range of the Ministry of Defense, few kilometers from Tskhinval. Here, motorized infantry battalions and artillerists are rotating for two-week trainings. A bit farther, a tank training area is located. At the fire-range, the infantry personnel are having fire exercise while tank crews are mastering their driving skills.

The South Ossetian Interior Ministry Units are put on alert, reported the acting Interior Minister Valery Valiev. “In connection to many events devoted to the 1st anniversary of tragic August 2008 in South Ossetia, it is necessary to take all measures to ensure security to the Republic’s residents and visitors during the upcoming days”, said Valiev.

The RSO President signed the Decree on appointing Vadim Brovtsev as the Chairman of South Osseitan Government. The RSO Parliament approved the nomination made by the RSO President . As stated by Eduard Kokoity, he would be fully supporting the actions of the new Government Chairman. "I suggested to the new Prime-Minister meeting all the members of the Government and preparing all suggestions on forming new Government within a week. From my side, there will be full support and confidence", said Kokoity.

From 4 August, 2400 hrs, the state border of South Ossetia with Georgia is closed, stated the RSO President Eduard Kokoity at the meeting with law and defense structures' senior officials. Eduard Kokoity stressed the frequent provocations by the Georgian side and the risk of swine flu reaching South Ossetia; the disease cases had been already recorded in Georgia.