TBILISI, May 30 – Georgia’s ruling party has reacted coldly to a European Union idea to include the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia’s breakaway regions in future peace talks over Ukraine. According to Rezonansi, the initiative belongs to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas. The issue was discussed Thursday at an EU ministerial meeting … Read more
TBILISI, September 29 – Georgian and Russian officials are set to meet in Ergneti today as part of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, regular field meetings used to solve practical problems along the boundary line with South Ossetia. Irakli Antadze, deputy director of the State Security Service’s information and analysis department, told reporters the … Read more
TBILISI, September 15 – A Georgian citizen who was detained earlier this month near the occupation line has been released and returned to territory controlled by the central government, authorities confirmed. According to Georgia’s State Security Service, Hamlet Margvelashvili was taken on September 8 near the village of Zemo Khviti, in Gori municipality, an area … Read more
TBILISI, September 10 – A Georgian man detained by Russian forces near the village of Khurvaleti in central Georgia has been released and returned to government-controlled territory, the State Security Service announced. According to the agency, Tengiz Korashvili was seized on May 19 near Khurvaleti in the Gori municipality, close to the boundary line with … Read more
A Georgian citizen was detained by Russian border guards Tuesday, near the village of Kveshi in Gori municipality, according to Georgia’s State Security Service. Authorities described the detention as “illegal” and said the incident was immediately reported to international observers. The SSS alerted the co-chairs of the IPRM, a platform for talks between Georgia, Russia, … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–The two armed Russian service members advanced 500 meters into territory controlled by Georgia and fired warning shots in an attempt to seize a local resident in the village Khurvaleti, about 50km northwest of Tbilisi, an eyewitness told Radio Tavisupleba. Khurvaleti is located at the southern tip of the breakaway region South Ossetia, whose … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–A prominent Georgian medical doctor was released on December 28 after spending 50 days in South Ossetian captivity for “illegal border crossing”. After his release on Saturday, Vazha Gaprindashvili emphasized that he has never admitted crossing the border, which is not recognized as such by Georgia. “My position was from the first day [of captivity], … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–The situation along the de facto border of South Ossetia further worsened on Thursday after representative of breakaway authorities put forward an ultimatum to Georgia to dismantle a checkpoint at the village Chorchana, in Khashuri municipality. If Georgia doesn’t dismantle the checkpoint by 6 am Friday morning, Tskhinvali authorities will “resort to all lawful … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–The situation along the de facto border of South Ossetia remains tense as Tskhinvali sent armed forces to prevent the construction of a police checkpoint by the Georgian side. The checkpoint is being built in the vicinity of Georgian village Chorchana. “In connection with the provocative attempts of the Georgian security forces to illegally … Read more
TBILISI, DFWatch–Authorities in the breakaway region South Ossetia have increased the fines for ‘illegal crossing of the state border’ by two and a half times; from 2,000 (USD 30) to 5,000 Russian rubles (USD 75). This change in the size of fines is one of the reasons for why it took longer time than usual … Read more