Tskhinvali Against Expanded OSCE Observation

South Ossetian side is against of expanding the number of the OSCE military observes in the conflict zone from current five to twenty.

According to the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee, Foreign Minister of unrecognized South Ossetian Republic Murad Jioyev expressed the South Ossetian side?s objections over expansion of OSCE observation during the talks with the head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia Ambassador Roy Reeve on September 13.

At the moment five OSCE military observers, as well as the joint peacekeeping forces, which are composed of Georgian, Russian and Ossetian troops (500 soldiers from the each side) are monitoring the conflict zone, which covers the territory from the center of the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali within a 15-kilometer radius, as defined by the 1992 agreement. The South Ossetian side is consistently against the expansion of OSCE role, as it accuses OSCE observers of siding with Tbilisi.