Georgian FM: Partners Employing all Mechanisms to Calm the Situation

“Our partners are fully informed and areemploying all necessary mechanisms to calm the situation”, Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Zalkaliani said of the recent developments at the village of Chorchana, situated close to the occupation line (ABL).

The minister said that the diplomatic agency is in constant contact with Georgia's European and American partners and is providing them with information about developments on the ground.

Zalkaliani stated that all sides are involved in the regulation of the situation, including the participants of the Geneva International Mechanism - the OSCE Special Representative, who is attending the meeting which is underway between the Georgian side, representatives of the de facto Tskhinvali and Russian occupation forces.

The meeting was initiated by the de-facto authorities of Tskhinvali (so-called South Ossetia), in response to the Georgian side’s decision not to remove the police blockade near the village of Chorchana.

“Along with other partners, the EU Mission is also involved in the process, I am in communication with my colleagues, and they are also informed. In this situation, it is necessary to stay calm, not to allow the forces that want to exacerbate the situation to do so. That is why we have all activated the relevant mechanisms”, the Minister said.

Representatives of the de-facto regime gave ultimatums to the Georgian side to remove the Georgian blockade by 6 am today, however, the Georgian authorities refused, saying that the area has "always been a territory controlled by the central government of Georgia and they had full rights to arrange the blockade there".

"On the suggestion of the South Ossetian side, a technical meeting will be held on Friday in the district where the Georgian police erected an illegal blockade", said Murat Jioev, special representative of the de facto president of (the occupied) Tskhinvali region for the 'Settlement of Post-Conflict Issues'.

The South Ossetian side says that "In case of further escalations, counter actions will be used to protect South Ossetia's territorial integrity. Full responsibility for the possible consequences goes to the Georgian government and its Western partners."

Related Story: Meeting Underway Between Georgian, Russian Sides, and de facto Tskhinvali

By Ana Dumbadze