Tskhinvali Closes Administrative Boundary Ahead Presidential Inauguration

The de-facto administration of South Ossetia (Tskhinvali), Georgia’s breakaway region, will close the administrative boundary with Georgia this evening ahead the illegal April 21 inauguration of president-elect Anatoly Bibilov.

"Due to the upcoming presidential inauguration, security measures are to be stepped up form 21:00 on April 20, so individuals will not be allowed to cross the border with Georgia through facilities providing simplified border-crossing procedures," Tskhinvali press service said adding that the facilities would re-open at 8:00 on April 22.

Parliament Speaker of breakaway South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, won the April 9 presidential elections receiving 54.8 percent of votes.

It was reported that over 300 guests have been invited to attend the ceremony, including representatives from Russia, occupied Abkhazia, the People’s Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh.

Officials in Tbilisi say the developments in Georgia’s occupied regions are illegal and cannot have any legal effect.

International partners of Georgia also denounced the elections and the referendum on changing Tskhinvali name into ‘the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania”.

By Thea Morrison