The meeting of the co-chairs of the Geneva talks with the South Ossetian delegation headed by the Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy of South Ossetia for post-conflict settlement Murat Dzhioev has discussed the issues of security and stability in Transcaucasia.
According to the European Union co- chair Philippe Lefort, the parties have a reason to hope for progress in some areas, while at the same time, many of the issues arouse concern, in particular, the work on the bilateral agreement on non-use of force.
"The priority issue for us is still the issue of public safety. We always look forward to the positive results," - said Lefort.
In turn, the OSCE co-chair Andriy Deshchitsa, responding to a question about the fate of the missing citizens of South Ossetia, said that the issue was constantly discussed with the Georgian colleagues and representatives of the law enforcement bodies of Georgia .
"This issue is also a recurring theme at the MPRI meetings. The relatives of the missing persons have already met with the Prosecutor General of Georgia. The investigation has been resumed and the law enforcement bodies of Georgia would like to get more information from the people who may have witnessed the abduction of Alan Khachirov, Alan Khugaev and Soltan Pliev. We are now discussing the possibility of arranging another meeting of representatives of the Attorney General of Georgia not only with the relatives of the missing persons, but also with the witnesses of those events," - said the co-chairman .
According to him, they are considering the possibility of holding the meeting in the MPRI format.
"By the next meeting of MPRI - September 16 - I will try to meet with the Georgian law enforcement agencies to obtain the information that may be disclosed. You understand that the investigation is in camera and we are not able to know all the information,"- said Deshchitsa.
However, he has noted that he is not aware of whether the names of the witnesses of these abductions are announced and whether they have been questioned by the law enforcement bodies of Georgia.
" It's the secrecy of the investigation. I do not even try to get that information. We can facilitate the investigation, but we can not to participate in it. We can meet and convince them that this is a very important issue, it affects people's lives. Of course, it is very painful to realize that we have not the exact information, but we cannot participate in the investigation. We use all the mechanisms to speed up the process, "- promised the co-chair.
At the same time, according to the UN representative Antti Turunen, one of the issues to be discussed within the framework of the Geneva discussions is the issue of the ability of the population to travel abroad, as well as the issues related to the constructions erected at the border which prevent the movement of the population.
"We also talked about arranging the information session at the next round and discussed the humanitarian issues," - said Turunen.
According to a UNHCR staff member Vincent Cochetel, it is important to find a way for all the parties to agree on the need for humanitarian assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons as a result of the armed conflicts who have lost their homes and live in collective centers.
He has stressed that they mean the problems both of the Ossetian and Georgian
refugees. The 25th round of talks is scheduled for November 5-6, 2013.
