The urgency of developing a legally binding document on the non-use of force between Georgia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia is even more growing against the background of the events and calls to unleash a new armed conflict that took place in Georgia in March 2023.
During the next round of international discussions on security in Transcaucasia, held on April 4-5 in Geneva, this issue was given the main attention, the statement of the South Ossetian delegation reads.
The meeting in Geneva was held in two working groups: on security and on humanitarian issues.
“The problems of regional security were discussed in the first working group.
The participants of the meeting has noted that the Geneva discussions remain the only platform for discussing emerging issues and threats that require attention, and a long pause in the Geneva process negatively affects stability and security in the region,” the South Ossetian delegation said in the statement published on the official website of the RSO Foreign Ministry.
Discussing issues of stability and security in the area of the South Ossetian-Georgian state border, the participants of the meeting noted the absence of serious incidents. At the same time, the extremely negative impact on the situation of a fortified police post illegally set up by the Georgian party in the immediate vicinity of the South Ossetian village of Uista was emphasized.
The South Ossetian and Russian delegations drew the attention of other participants to the need for delimitation and subsequent demarcation of the border between the Republic of South Ossetia and Georgia.
“This would become a serious factor in strengthening security and stability in the region, would meet the interests of the population living on both sides of the South Ossetian-Georgian state border. During the discussions, the effectiveness and expediency of continuing the work of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism in the area of the South Ossetian-Georgian border (IPRM) and the operating hotline format were noted, the South Ossetian party has stressed.
Also during the meeting, a detailed conversation took place on humanitarian issues, in which priority attention was paid to the fate of the citizens of South Ossetia abducted by the Georgian security forces and missing on the territory of Georgia.
In addition, attention was again drawn to the ongoing violation by Georgia of the rights of the Ossetians of Tyrsygom, who for many years have been unable to gain access to their ancestral villages.
The Ossetian and Abkhaz participants again raised the issue of the discriminatory nature of the visa policy of a number of states in relation to the residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
An exchange of views also took place on a number of other humanitarian issues.
There was no discussion on the refugee problem at the end of the round. The resumption of discussions on the topic of refugees will be possible if Georgia stops the ongoing artificial politicization of this problem.
The next meeting of the Geneva Discussions is scheduled to take place in July 2023.
On April 4-5, 2022, Geneva hosted the next round of International Discussions on security in the Transcaucasia, held on the basis of the agreements adopted on August 12 and September 8, 2008. The negotiations were 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 President of the Republic of South Ossetia Konstantin Kochiev.
