Comment of the Presidential Envoy of the Republic of South Ossetia for post-conflict settlement Murat Dzhioev in connection with the forthcoming action in Georgia "Journalists against the occupation." According to the media, the action is planned to be held on September 28. Georgian journalists "are going to go to the village of Dhwani with banners to express their protest "in connection with the delimitation works at the South Ossetian –Georgian border.
This action is reminiscent of the events in November 1989, when Georgia responded to the call to conduct a "peaceful" rally in Tskhinval on November 23. That action became the beginning of the nineteen-year armed confrontation. Today such a provocation may have more unpredictable consequences, as it is a question of the frontier between the two states - the Republic of South Ossetia and Georgia, which do not have, to put it mildly, any inter-state relations.
It is an obvious provocation aimed at attracting attention of the international community to the activities carried out by the relevant services of the Republic of South Ossetia on defining the border line. I`d like to emphasize that the engineering and barrage structures are being built in the territory of South Ossetia, at a certain distance from the border line and are intended to ensure a peaceful situation on the border, prevent unintentional violations because of ignorance of the borderline.
These actions are provocative because they are directed against the "occupation," though not a single Russian soldier is in the Georgian territory. As for the Republic of South Ossetia, where Russian border guards are under a bilateral intergovernmental agreement, being an important factor in the safety of the people, then it is time to understand that South Ossetia is not part of Georgia, and has no relation to its "territorial integrity." The boundaries of the recognized state of the Republic of South Ossetia are defined in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of South Ossetia and comply with the border line of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast within the USSR, and cannot be modified in any way.
The South Ossetian authorities have repeatedly offered the Georgian side, including at the Geneva discussions, to start working together on the delimitation and demarcation of the border and in case of any specific issues to resolve them through negotiations. This would be in the interests of both countries, as well as in the interests of the ordinary villagers on both sides of the state border. However, the authorities of Georgia - the outgoing and the new - vying with each other, trying to outrun in the presidential race, to stir up the situation at the border, play this card to their advantage. It is in their interests, because the residents of the border areas know well the limits of their villages. These actions are conducted from Tbilisi, and maybe from far away.
Contrary to the opinion of Georgian politicians, who claim that "the border line between South Ossetia and Georgia does not exist," and their Western patrons, recommending that: "In today's world we should not build barriers," the state border between South Ossetia and Georgia is real, and it will be strengthened for security and stability in the region (and we recommend the Western patrons to visit the U.S. border with Mexico).
In areas of Georgia adjacent to South Ossetia, are EU monitors, whose function is to ensure stability and security in the region. I would like to believe that they will do their utmost to avoid provocative actions along the border.
