The South Ossetian delegation expressed serious concern over the expansion of the NATO presence on the territory of Georgia
The South Ossetian, Abkhaz and Russian participants in the Geneva discussions once again drew attention to the urgent need to work out guarantees against the use of military force by Georgia against South Ossetia and Abkhazia. This is stated in the message Office of the Presidential Envoy for post-conflict settlement of the Republic of South Ossetia on the results of the first this year meeting of international discussions on security inTranscaucasus, held in Geneva on October 5.
“It has been emphasized that the South Ossetian delegation sees this document as the important and necessary step towards providing strong security guarantees for South Ossetia from Georgia and strengthening the existing structure of regional security.
The South Ossetian delegation expressed serious concern over the expansion of NATO's presence on the territory of Georgia and the ongoing buildup of Georgia's military potential, which could again provoke the Georgian leadership to the steps fraught with unpredictable consequences,” the press service said.
The South Ossetian participants of the meeting have emphasized that the military exercises with the participation of the NATO contingents in close proximity to the borders of South Ossetia are a factor that poses a threat to regional stability and security.
“During the discussions, the effectiveness and expediency of continuing the operation of the Mechanism for Preventing and Responding to Incidents in the area of the South Ossetian-Georgian border (IPRM), operating within the framework of the Geneva discussions, were noted as the important factor in ensuring stability and security in the area of the Georgian-South Ossetian border. The effectiveness of the functioning of the "hot line" under the IPRM was emphasized," the press service said.
They have added that the discussion of humanitarian problems took place in the second working group.
“As the important component of the overall security and humanitarian situation, issues related to the search for citizens of the Republic of South Ossetia abducted by the Georgian security forces and the missing on the territory of Georgia were also discussed.
Serious attention was again drawn to the gross violations by Georgia of the rights of Ossetians - natives of the Kazbegi region (Tyrsygom), who for several years have not been able to gain access to their ancestral villages.
There was no discussion on the issue of refugees at the completed round. The resumption of discussions on the subject of refugees will be possible only if Georgia stops its attempts to artificially politicize this problem,” the Plenipotentiary's Office said in the statement.
On October 5, the first meeting of the international discussions on security in Transcaucasia this year took place in Geneva. The round was attended by delegations from the Republic of South Ossetia, the Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia, the Russian Federation, the United States, as well as the EU, the UN and the OSCE representatives. The South Ossetian delegation was headed by State Advisor to the President of the Republic of South Ossetia Konstantin Kochiev. The meeting was held in two working groups: on security and on humanitarian issues.
