Russian Activity at Administrative Boundary Line on International Agenda
The international community has expressed support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and expressed concern about Russia’s illegal actions on the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) between the occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) and Georgia.
Yesterday, Russia’s recent encroachment further into Georgian territory was the subject of the US State Department spokesperson John Kirby’s daily briefing, where he stressed that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are integral parts of Georgia.
“We reaffirm our strong support for Georgia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and independence. We once again urge Russia to fulfill all of its obligations under the 2008 ceasefire agreement to withdraw its forces to pre-conflict positions, to reverse its recognition of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, and to provide free access for humanitarian assistance to these regions,” he said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister’s website has released a statement and condemned Russia’s illegal actions on the ABL and assessed the step as a violation of international law by Russia.
“The fact of illegal seizure of territories in the districts adjacent to settlements of Tsitelubani and Orchosani confirms that Russia is carrying out a creeping annexation of the region. Violation of Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, annexation of Crimea and ongoing aggression in eastern Ukraine violate the world’s security system,” the statement said.
Journalist protest
Today, Georgian media representatives held a protest rally "No to occupation" in the village of Khurvaleti.
Journalists brought down the signpost "Republic of South Ossetia" installed by the Russian occupants.
The protesters removed the inscription from the banner and threw it into the waste disposal unit.
According to the reporters, they are rallying against “creeping occupation” and illegal installation of signposts in order to mark the so-called new border with the breakaway region.
However, there were local journalists who were not supportive of their colleagues’ protest rally. Some complained that journalists should understand the distinction between their job and civil activities.
"Journalism has a lot of leverage and the possibility to prepare important and critical materials on this issue and by this way help society to understand what is going on. I'm not a security expert and it is difficult to say what the threat of such can cause. Journalism has a different responsibility and it should remain in its space,” Tamar Rukhadze, Executive Director of Journalistic Ethics Charter, said to the Georgian online magazine Liberali.
Next protest against Russia’s occupation
A group of Georgian citizens are planning to hold a protest rally against Russia’s “creeping occupation” of Georgian territories.
Organizers are going to gather in front of the Government’s State Administration on July 18 at 6pm.
The Facebook page of the event has announced that the protesters will have three requests: To stop bilateral talks between Zurab Abashidze, the special representative of the Georgian Prime Minister, and Grigory Karasin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, which were initiated by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, on a promise to improve relations with Russia in 2012.
The second request is for all negotiations with Moscow to be conducted with the participation of Georgia’s strategic partners, and the third demand is for the Georgian Parliament to adopt a law against collaboration.
On July 10, Russian-backed occupying forces illegally placed signposts marking the so-called border on the territory adjacent to the village of Tsitelubani, Gori municipality, and the village of Orchosani, occupied Akhalgori district, near Georgia’s main east-west highway. As a consequence of the illegal border installation, certain segments of the British Petroleum (BP) - operated Baku-Supsa pipeline [near Orchosani] now fall within territory essentially under Russian control.
Photo from Pia.ge
Tamar Svanidze