EU Monitors Call for Putting Geneva Agreement into Practice
The EU’s monitoring mission in Georgia said on March 3, that situation involving detention of two Georgians by the South Ossetian militias “highlights the need for progress to be made in the implementation of the incident prevention mechanism” agreed by the sides during the fourth round of Geneva talks on February 18.
Davit Kapanadze and Demur Chigladze, who remain in detention in Tskhinvali, have been accused of “illegal crossing the South Ossetian border” by the breakaway region’s authorities. The Georgian Interior Ministry said that the two men were kidnapped by the South Ossetian militias on the Georgian side of the administrative border and abductors were demanding EUR 6,000 ransom. Tskhinvali has denied that and said that the two men were arrested after they crossed into the region.
The proposals agreed by the sides in Geneva involve regular weekly meetings and they have also “agreed joint visits may be conducted” in the areas of concern. The agreed document is not self-executing and its implementation depends on a good will of the parties on the ground.
“The exact details of what occurred with the two Georgians detained in recent days are not yet clear, but the case clearly underscores the need to address the issue of movement across the administrative boundary line in a systematic fashion,” Hansjörg Haber, head of the EU Monitoring Mission, said in a statement. “It is a legitimate interest of civilians on both sides of this boundary line to be able to cross it without ending up in jail or before a court. There must be transparency as to which rules apply.”
“Only by regular meetings between all the sides, as recently agreed in Geneva, can such situations be clarified and tensions reduced, for the benefit of everyone involved. I very much hope that progress can be made in sorting out the detailed arrangements for these meetings so that such incidents can be prevented in the future,” he added.
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