Officials of Georgia and South Ossetia discuss measures to ensure the safety of conflict zone residents

The border village of Ergneti has hosted a regular meeting within the Mechanism to Prevent and Respond to Incidents (MPRI), where officials of Georgia and South Ossetia, in particular, discussed detentions of civilians on the border, de-mining pre-border areas and ensuring safety of local residents.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Russian party and observer from the EU and OSCE missions in Georgia.

The South-Ossetian party has proposed to reduce the amount of fines imposed on their citizens detained in the territory of Georgia. Reporters were told about it by Merab Chigoev, General Public Prosecutor of South Ossetia. At present, he said, the fine is about 2000 US dollars.

Besides, the meeting discussed a possibility of mutual exchange of convicts and defendants of South Ossetia and Georgia. "We have agreed to hold consultations on this issue and prepare concrete proposals by the next meeting," said Chigoev as quoted by the "Res" News Agency.

The parties also discussed measures towards de-mining the border areas of South Ossetia and Georgia. As noted by Chigoev, the proposal was supported by all the participants of the meeting and is likely to be implemented after the appropriate preparation.

In its turn, the Georgian party reports that, one of the main topics of the current talks was to ensure the security of the farmers living on both sides of the border. This was reported by the PIC TV Channel.

The next meeting within the MPRI is scheduled for May 25. The Ossetian party proposed to discuss the issue of resuming the work of the Ergneti marketplace.