Akhalgori, or Leningor, used to be under Georgian control, but was seized by Russian forces in 2008, and is now under the control of the breakaway region South Ossetia. (IPN.)

TBILISI, DFWatch – A group of French senators on a midsummer visit Tuesday toured close to a village which was taken by Russia in the 2008 war.

The senators’s trip took them to the surrounding area close to the village Akhalgori. The village was renamed Leningor after it fell under Russian control, and is now blocked off by checkpoints and lies inside the breakaway region South Ossetia, which Russia has recognized as an independent country.

Georgia, on the other hand, declared this region, and the other breakawy region Abkhazia, as occupied territories after the 2008 war. Solving this problem was one of the main topics when the French senators returned from their field trip and met Speaker of the Parliament Davit Bakradze.

Senator Nathalie Goulet says they discussed Georgia’s territorial integrity and the refugees’ current situation.

After returning to France, Goulet will ask the French government to make its views about Georgia’s territorial integrity heard again.

Also some specific projects were on the agenda of the meeting.

The French delegation will participate at a conference in Batumi July 10-12 entitled Georgia’s European Way – EU and European Neighbors.