Sides Meet for Routine Security Talks in Gali

The Georgian side pushed for the issue of free movement across the Abkhaz administrative border at a third meeting in series of incident prevention and response mechanism held in Gali on August 11.

“This will be focus of our attention; we do not want any case of violation of rights of Georgians [of Gali district] to be left without response,” Shota Utiashvili, head of the Georgian Interior Ministry’s information and analysis department, said after the meeting.

Head of Russian Federal Security Service’s board guard unit on the ground in Abkhazia, Oleg Frolov was representing the Russian side at the EU and UN facilitate meeting in Gali, according to Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress.

The Abkhaz and Russian sides insist that the only “legal border crossing point” which remains currently open is a main bridge over Enguri river.

“Those willing to cross the border back and forth should also have a special permission paper,” Ruslan Kishmaria, the Abkhaz leader’s special envoy to Gali, was quoted by Apsnipress as saying after the meeting.

“All the other border crossing points [except of Enguri bridge] are illegal and we have once again warned that who tries to cross the border in other places and without relevant permission paper will be detained,” he added.

Kishmaria also said that the Abkhaz side had again pushed for the issue of David Sigua, an ethnic Georgian who had served in the Abkhaz administration in the Gali district and who has been missing since February 2007. Tbilisi has consistently denied any involvement in the disappearance.

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