The meeting in Ergneti was traditionally held with the mediation of the EU and the OSCE, the last time negotiations in this format were held six months ago. After a long break due to the coronavirus pandemic, a meeting of representatives of the Georgian and South Ossetian sides within the framework of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (MPRI) was held in the village of Ergneti.

The meeting in Ergneti was traditionally held with the mediation of the EU and the OSCE, the last time negotiations in this format were held six months ago.

The parties discussed a number of issues on the current situation on the line of separation of the parties, but did not agree on the main ones.

Special emphasis

The main topic of the meeting was the issue of Georgian citizens Zaza Gakheladze, Genadiy Bestayev, Lasha Khetereli and Ramaz Begeluri, who were detained by the South Ossetian side.

"At today's meeting, the main issue was the unconditional release of our fellow citizens who are in illegal detention," said the representative of the Georgian State Security Service, Irakli Antadze. But he failed to secure the release of the detainees.

Representatives of Tskhinvali did not agree with the position of the Georgian side.

"As for ordinary citizens who violate the state border, a humanitarian approach is applied to them and they are expelled to Georgia without penalties. But if they are suspected of committing offenses, then this is the prerogative of the law enforcement agencies of South Ossetia, a criminal case is initiated, and in the future the court determines the degree of guilt and punishment," said the head of the South Ossetian delegation, Yegor Kochiev.

Another reason for disagreement

Another topic of discussion was the Georgian police post in the village of Chorchana, which is being demanded to be abolished in Tskhinvali, citing the fact that it poses a threat.

"There was a discussion about the post in Chorchana, our position is unequivocal: This is a standard police post, and its main purpose is a safe environment, " Antadze said.

The head of the South Ossetian delegation objected to him.

"This post does not carry any burden for Georgia, it does not protect anything, since there are no roads passing through this territory," Kochiev said.

He claimed that the post is located on the territory that is beyond the control of the Georgian side, and it is only 250-300 meters from the Ossetian village of Tsnolis, and about three kilometers from the nearest Georgian village.

The parties agreed to meet again on April 23.

The meetings of the IPRI-separately with representatives of Sukhumi and Tskhinvali have been held with the participation of international mediators since 2009. Georgia lost control of these territories after armed conflicts in the early 1990s, and after the August 2008 events, Russia recognized their independence and placed its military bases here. Tbilisi declares its main task to restore the territorial integrity of the country, emphasizing that this should be done peacefully.

sputnik-georgia.ru