The de-facto authorities of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) have announced that the administrative border separating the breakaway area from the rest of Georgia will be closed for two days.
The breakaway region’s de-facto security committee’s press office said that the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) will be closed from November 22-24.
The temporary closure of the administrative border is due to upcoming celebrations in the breakaway region. On November 23, the occupied Tskhinvali region will celebrate the Day of Bravery and Public Unity. The closure is to "ensure security” during the festivities, the de-facto region said.
The State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Ketevan Tsikhelashvili denounced the practice of the occasional closure of the ABL. She said that by doing so, people lose the only way of contacting each other on the two sides of the occupation line.
She added that keeping the ABL open is in the interest of the people of occupied Tskhinvali.
"Such practice has been implemented since 2008. We are sure that the crossing point will re-open – it cannot be closed for a long time – but the period while it is closed creates additional problems to the people who already have limited opportunities of movement”, Tsikhelashvili said.
Georgia and the western world do not recognise the independence of Tskhinvali region and say that it is an integral part of Georgia. Only a handful of countries recognise South Ossetia and another Georgian breakaway region, Abkhazia, as sovereign states.
Russia and Nicaragua recognised the independence of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region on August 26, 2008 following the Russia-Georgia war.
In 2009 Venezuela, Vanuatu, Nauru and Tuvalu took the same step, however several years’ later Vanuatu and Tuvalu in the Pacific Islands revoked their recognition and now declare Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as integral parts of Georgia.
De-facto Tskhinvali region closes the only crossing-point between the occupied area and the rest of Georgia during different holidays on both sides of the ABL.