On December 11-12, 2018,in Geneva took place the 46th Round of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia, held in accordance with the August 12 and September 8, 2008 Medvedev-Sarkozy agreements. The delegations of the Republic of South Ossetia, the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the USA, as well as the EU, the UN and the OSCE representatives took part in the discussions.
The South Ossetian delegation was headed by Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy for post-conflict settlement Murat Dzhioev,
The work took place in two working groups: on security and on humanitarian issues.
The first working group assessed the state of security and stability in the areas bordering on Georgia. The situation was characterized as relatively stable, with the elements of tension caused by propaganda actions continued by the Georgian side on the border in the area of the village of Isakykau.
The South Ossetian delegation emphasized the intention to continue marking the South Ossetian-Georgian state border line and installing relevant engineering structures on this line, and again called on the Georgian side to work together on the delimitation and demarcation of the state border between South Ossetia and Georgia.
The South Ossetian delegation strongly protested against the unjustified announcement by the Georgian authorities of several South Ossetian citizens wanted by Interpol.
A discussion was continued on the ways of elaborating the text of the joint statement of all the participants in the Discussions on the non-use of force. It was stressed that the South Ossetian delegation considered this statement as an important and necessary step towards ensuring strong security guarantees for South Ossetia from Georgia and strengthening the existing structure of regional security.
Representatives of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Russia expressed serious concern over the growing NATO presence in Georgia and the intensification of steps to integrate Georgia into the military bloc. Plans for the construction of a military airfield in Vaziani and the holding of the next large-scale multinational exercises in 2019 cause particular caution. It was stated that military exercises with the participation of NATO contingents in close proximity to the borders of South Ossetia are a factor threatening regional stability and security.
During the discussion the South Ossetian party noted the importance of a joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) for maintaining a stable and predictable environment.
In response to the attempts of the Georgian authorities to impose a negative image of South Ossetia on the international community and to replicate allegations of the alleged socio-economic and humanitarian problems, the South Ossetian delegation in both working groups presented documentary materials on important socio-economic developments in South Ossetia, including the information on construction the facilities in social, educational sphere, road infrastructure, carried out with the assistance of the Russian Federation.
A thorough conversation on humanitarian issues also took place, in which priority attention was paid to the fate of the missing citizens of South Ossetia. It was noted that the early resolution of this issue will have a positive effect on the atmosphere of the Geneva discussions.
Once again, serious attention was paid to gross violations by Georgia of the rights of Ossetians - natives of the Kazbegi region (Tyrsygom), who for several years could not get access to their ancestral villages.
South Ossetian participants again raised the question of the return of South Ossetia’s unique triptych icon stolen from the South Ossetian Museum and now locating in Georgia
An exchange of views also took place on a number of other humanitarian issues.
There was no discussion on the refugee issue. The resumption of discussing this issue will be possible only if Georgia stops the attempts to artificially politicizing this problem.
On the eve of the 46th round of discussions, an informational session was held on the topic “Women, Peace and Security”.
The next meeting in the framework of the Geneva discussions is scheduled to be held in April 2019.
December 13, 2018
