PACE representatives trying to arrive on the territory of South Ossetia from Georgia were informed on the rules regulating the entry. The Plenipotentiary for Human Rights David Sanakoev told IA RES correspondent about the details of the incident with the representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe at the boundary line between South Ossetia and Georgia.
“Yesterday, at the state border of South Ossetia with Georgia, when I was seeing off the CoE independent experts, I had accidentally met representatives of PACE. They stated their intention to visit South Ossetia. During my conversation I have informed them about the regulations and procedure for crossing the state border-line of South Ossetia. The PACE representatives confirmed that they have earlier addressed the Parliament of South Ossetia where they were informed that it was possible to enter South Ossetia only through the territory of the Russian Federation; nonetheless, they decided to check if it would be possible to enter through the territory of Georgia”, reported Sanakoev. In their turn, Georgian TV channels reported that after waiting for an hour, the PACE monitoring committee member Matias Jorş was not allowed to enter. “Ossetians themselves should understand that that the border should be opened especially for representatives of international organizations”, Georgian media quoted Matias Jorş. David Sanakoev considered this action of European parliamentarians as a provocation. “They assured me that they were not going to boost this into a scandal and that they would take into account the regulation for visit to South Ossetia next time, but unfortunately, we see now that they had a different approach. We consider this a provocation”, said Sanakoev.
