EU Monitors, Tbilisi Concerned over Situation in Perevi

The Russian forces in the village of Perevi on the South Ossetian administrative border are handing over control on the village “to the criminal militias of the proxy regime of the Tskhinvali region,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement released late in the evening on November 8.

Shortly before the announcement the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) also released a statement saying that the mission was concerned about the situation in Perevi.

“Evidence on the ground seems moreover to suggest that Russian military forces will be replaced by forces of the South Ossetian de facto authorities. This would further exacerbate tensions to the detriment of the civilian population in and around the village of Perevi,” EUMM said.

The village of Perevi is located on the western part of the South Ossetian administrative border. Currently administratively, the village is part of the Georgia’s Sachkhere district; but Russian forces refused to remove its checkpoint from the village as part of the withdrawal from the adjacent areas, citing that the village was part of the former Autonomous District of South Ossetia.

“The Russian forces in South Ossetia have persistently refused to dismantle this checkpoint, in spite of the fact that it is clearly located to the west of the administrative boundary line of South Ossetia,” EUMM said in the statement.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that the recent development in Perevi “”increases the risk of confrontation and makes security of the village even more volatile, which might result in the displacement and property loss of the residents of Perevi and a new wave of ethnic cleansings.”

Meanwhile, EU Monitoring Mission also said it was also concerned about the reported death of a South Ossetian resident, allegedly killed by sniper fire near the administrative boundary line on November 6.

“EUMM regrets not having been allowed to cross the administrative boundary line in order to collect information on the ground,” it said.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian)