De Facto S. Ossetia Representatives Leave Ergneti 89th IPRM Meeting

Georgia’s State Security service reports that the representatives of the de-facto government of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia disrupted in protest the 89th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting held in Ergneti on September 14.

The representatives of the de-facto government demanded a removal of issues relating to the murder of Georgian citizens Archil Tatunashvili and David Basharuli from the agenda.

“The mentioned issues on the agenda and ultimatums within the IPRM format are categorically unacceptable for the Central Government of Georgia, due to the fact that demands are contrary to the fundamental principles of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism,” the SSS stated.

The European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) reports Erik Høeg, Head of the EUMM and Ambassador Rudolf Michalka, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, co-facilitated the proceedings, but following the opening remarks, different views were expressed concerning the provisional agenda and participants were unable to continue discussions. 

“The co-facilitators expressed their regret that it was impossible to discuss the agenda items. They encouraged a pragmatic approach as previously demonstrated by participants, even on challenging issues,” the EUMM said in their statement.

The EUMM and OSCE reiterated their strong commitment to the IPRM format as the only valuable mechanism to address security for the conflicted population living in the vicinity of the Administrative Boundary Line.

By Thea Morrison