Murat Dzhioev, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy of South Ossetia for Post-Conflict Settlement, commented on the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, released on Wednesday, August 14.
“This statement once again contains completely unfounded charges and “concerns about the resumption of the process of erecting border barriers near the Georgian village of Gugutiantkar.” According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, the works are allegedly carried out by the Russian military and, accordingly, allegations are made against Russia. In fact, these accusations against Russia and its military are completely unsubstantiated and only aim to once again present the Russian presence in South Ossetia in an unseemly light to the international community,” Murat Dzhioev noted in a comment to IA “Res “.
He has explained that this refers to the work being carried out by the border service of the Republic of South Ossetia on the designation by engineering structures of the state border line between the Republic of South Ossetia and Georgia.
“The works are carried out exclusively by representatives of South Ossetia in the South Ossetian territory at a certain distance from the border line,” the envoy said.
Dzhioev has emphasized that the Russian border guards, who, in accordance with a bilateral agreement between South Ossetia and the Russian Federation, ensure the protection of the state border, have nothing to do with this work.
“However, for many years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Georgian side does not want to see and recognize the existing realities in the region, it does not want to see a real, recognized state next to Georgia - the Republic of South Ossetia,” he noted. - At the same time, after the repulsing of the Georgian military aggression against South Ossetia in August 2008 and the signing of the agreements of August 12, 2008, which Russia has implemented and fully complies with, despite the claims of the Georgian authorities and their patrons, the authorities of the Republic of South Ossetia in order to establish stability and security in the region, building relations between the neighboring states, have repeatedly proposed to the Georgian side to begin joint work on delimitation of the border line. "
According to the Plenipotentiary, the authorities of the Republic of South Ossetia even formally turned to the co-chairs of the Geneva discussions on security in Transcaucasia to act as mediators between South Ossetia and Georgia on this issue.
“In response - only silence and completely unfounded accusations and insults,” the diplomat noted. “The impression is clearly emerging that Georgia is not interested in peace and stability on the borders with South Ossetia, it needs this problem to appeal to the West, posing as a victim.”
Murat Dzhioev has added that taking advantage of the accessibility of international stands, the Georgian representatives poured mud on Russia and its allies - the Republic of South Ossetia and the Republic of Abkhazia.
“The lie repeated many times even to the speaker begins to seem true. So, the Georgian authorities, often repeating their tale of the "Russian occupation", are trying to convince the international community of the violation of the "rights of Georgia" to South Ossetia. This can be called nothing more than the information war of Georgia against South Ossetia and its people, the Envoy said. - The statement of the Georgian Foreign Ministry expresses "concern" that "the already difficult humanitarian situation of the population living near the occupation line may worsen."
The diplomat has noted that such a statement looks more than cynical, because, according to him, “it is well known that where there are border engineering structures, unintentional border violations are practically nullified.”
“And where there are no such border marks, there are often violations of the border line, including by cattle, which does not understand politics at all, and the Georgian side never makes efforts to return the cattle of the Ossetian residents. The non-designation of the border line affects local residents. In addition, representatives of the Georgian authorities and the EU Observer Mission in Georgia, who monitor the work in the Gugutiantkar region, are well aware that Ossetian border guards, when carrying out work on marking the border, take into account the interests of local residents ,So this is another PR campaign of Georgia so that Western states do not forget about it,” concluded Dzhioev.
