The South Ossetian Foreign Ministry calls on the EU Observer Mission in Georgia to take measures to prevent another Georgian adventure and prevent a dangerous development of events. This is stated in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has information that the relatives of the citizen of Georgia Z. Gakheladze, who is serving a sentence in South Ossetia for illegally crossing the state border of South Ossetia and the use of firearms against military personnel of the Republic's Border Service, incited by the Georgian authorities and some representatives of the non-governmental sector, are preparing to provocation - attempts to illegally cross the state border of South Ossetia.
"It should be emphasized that all actions against the citizen of Georgia Z. Gakheladze were carried out within the framework of the law, there are no reasons for concern about his condition. Moreover, from humane considerations, he was provided with additional opportunities - almost daily conversations with his family on the phone, constant medical observation, extraordinary receipt of parcels from relatives. Unfortunately, this humanitarian practice applied to the Georgian citizen was not appreciated in Georgia, responding with steps that are beyond the bounds of civilized ones. Systematic fanning of hysteria, announcement of illegal actions on the state border based on absurd ultimatums - these actions cannot be viewed in Tskhinval otherwise than as preparation for another Georgian provocation, fraught with dangerous destabilization of the situation in the border area, "the statement reads.
The Foreign Ministry has noted that, according to a long-standing tradition, another aggravation is provoked by the Georgian side on the eve of the 53rd round of the Geneva international discussions on security and stability in Transcaucasia, scheduled for June 29-30.
"Against the background of the alarming situation, we call on the EU Observer Mission in Georgia to take measures to prevent another Georgian adventure and prevent a dangerous development of the events," the document says.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia responsibly declares that if the situation becomes more complicated, the South Ossetian side will be forced to independently suppress the security threat emanating from the territory of Georgia and take all envisaged measures to ensure the inviolability of the state border: "Responsibility for the possible consequences of the provocation will rest entirely on the Georgian side."
