The need to remove the illegal Georgian post near the settlement of Uista (Tsnelis) remains the main issue at the meetings in the format of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, said Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy of South Ossetia for post-conflict settlement Yegor Kochiev, commenting on the results of the 100th meeting in the format IPRM on Tuesday.
"At the meeting on the South Ossetian-Georgian border, near the village of Ergnet, were discussed a number of issues related to security on the territory bordering Georgia, the main one being the illegal post of the Georgian police near the settlement of Tsnelis," Kochiev said.
According to him, the South Ossetian delegation drew attention to the provocative actions of the Georgian police, whose representatives illegally cross the border with the Republic of South Ossetia.
“A Georgian policeman, as a rule, penetrates for 15-20 meters, stays for up to 1-2 minutes on the territory of South Ossetia, and when approaching a border patrol, moves away to the territory of Georgia. This is an irritant for the border guards. And such cases happen quite often,” Kochiev said.
He has noted that during the period since the previous meeting in the IPRM format, about 10 violations of the state border of South Ossetia with Georgia were recorded.
“In all cases, people were detained, and depending on the decision of the judicial authorities or representatives of the border service, they were fined and expelled to the territory of Georgia, or expelled without penalties,” the Deputy Plenipotentiary said.
Kochiev has added that the OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid and Director for Security and Defense Policy of the European External Action Service Joaneke Balfort took part in the opening of the anniversary meeting.
South Ossetia once again expressed clear position of the Republic that the main task of the Geneva process, the part of which the IPRM is, and this was also announced by the President of the Republic in his annual message, is the development of a legally binding document on the non-use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
“We welcome such visits, through which we get the opportunity to convey the position of South Ossetia to as many representatives of the international community as possible,” Kochiev said.
According to him, the South Ossetian delegation notes every time that South Ossetia remains committed to participation in the Geneva process, the part of which the IPRM is.
According to the preliminary agreement, the next meeting in the format of the IPRI will be held on July 13.
