100th IPRM Held in Ergneti

The 100th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanisms (IPRMs) meeting was held on June 15 in Ergneti village near the occupation line of Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia.

The discussion was co-facilitated by the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) Head Marek Szczygieł and Special Representative of OSCE CiO for the South Caucasus Annika Söder. OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid and Joanneke Balfoort, Director for Security and Defense Policy at the European External Action Service, were also in attendance.

Secretary General Schmid highlighted that continued engagement with all stakeholders “remains crucial for defusing tensions and solving concrete security and humanitarian issues, and also to alleviate the burden of the conflict-affected people,” EUMM reported.

According to the same report, the co-facilitators called for the re-opening of the crossing points along the dividing line, as well as reiterated past calls to adopt “concrete measures to counter the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the conflict-affected population.”

Ambassador Söder urged for “a humanitarian approach” for the resolution of detention cases and de-escalation along the dividing line.

After the meeting, the State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) stated that Tbilisi raised the issue of the immediate release of illegally detained persons, including Zaza Gakheladze, adding that Secretary General Schmid’s attendance marks unprecedented involvement of international partners.

Irakli Antadze, Deputy Head of the SSG Analytical Department, said the consultations regarding Zaza Gakheladze’s release are ongoing. He added that the sides also discussed the possibility of Gakheladze’s family visiting him in Tskhinvali in the near future.

Moscow-backed Tskhinvali representative Igor Kochiev accused Georgian law enforcement of “provocative actions” along the dividing line near the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area. He claimed there were some ten instances of persons detained for “violations” along the dividing line, all of which were “expelled” back to Georgia proper.

The 101st IPRM meeting will be held on July 13.

The IPRMs format was established under the Geneva International Discussions to address the security concerns and developments on the ground on a regular basis, and involves officials from Tbilisi on the one hand and representatives of Tskhinvali and Sokhumi authorities on the other in two, separate meetings, as well as representatives of the Russian border troops.

Also Read:

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)