TBILISI, November 18 – Representatives from Tbilisi, the Russian-backed authorities in Tskhinvali, and international observers met in the village of Ergneti on Tuesday for a scheduled meeting of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM).
The Georgian State Security Service said the meeting reviewed all major incidents recorded since the previous meeting, including the killing of Georgian citizen Tamaz Ginturi. Tbilisi repeated its demand that the “representative or representatives” of the Russian forces responsible be held to account, and again called for the release of all people detained for crossing the FSB guarded border fences, which cut through populated areas and forests. Georgian officials condemned the continued “borderization”, referring to new fencing or markings installed, which enforce the boundary which Tbilisi does not recognize.
The Russian-aligned side in Tskhinvali described the overall period as ‘calm.’ According to RES news agency, the head of the South Ossetian delegation, Yegor Kochiev, told reporters that only three cases of “state border violations” had been registered and said there were no incursions into South Ossetia’s airspace. He added that unmanned aerial vehicles were seen but remained on the Georgian side of the line.
Kochiev also referred to what he described as an incident involving EU Monitoring Mission personnel near the Georgian village of Koshka. He said the observers had “most likely crossed the border unknowingly”, noting that earlier technical meetings had produced understandings that neither EUMM nor security forces would patrol that particular area. At the same time, he said no violations had been committed by Georgian police and reported no “provocative actions” from Georgian civilians during the same period.
Co-hosts the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) and the OSCE in a joint statement pointed to the challenges faced by residents living along the boundary line, such as restrictions on movements, and detentions. They called for a humanitarian approach to ongoing detention cases and encouraged all sides to use the EUMM hotline for rapid information exchange.
The co-hosts also said additional steps to ease movement during the upcoming holiday season would help restore trust, suggesting an extension of the December opening schedule for the two crossing points so that families divided by the boundary could visit each other into early January.
A technical meeting on irrigation took place before the main session, focusing on water management along the Tiriponi canal. The sides reviewed the completed irrigation season, and the meeting’s facilitators noted that regular measurements and timely communication had helped prevent disputes.
Today was the 128th round of IPRM meetings, where the sides in the 2008 war meet in the field to prevent or solve practical problems in the conflict areas.
