Fences on Georgian-South-Ossetian border hamper soil tillage and deprive housing, local residents assert

Members of the programme "Georgian-Russian Dialogue for Peace and Cooperation" have visited village on the border of Georgia with South Ossetia. Villagers said that the border line built by the authorities of South Ossetia and Russian border guards had split their houses, forcing them to quit them, and deprived them of their land plots. In its turn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of South Ossetia said that they had many times urged Georgia to start the demarcation of the border, and that the territory of Georgia is not affected.

The trip was a part of the programme "Georgian-Russian Dialogue for Peace and Cooperation", held on July 21-29 in Georgia. The programme aimed at increasing the awareness of young professionals from both countries on the Russian-Georgian relations and the establishment of a cooperation platform.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 27 Russian border guards stretched barbed wire near the village of Ditsi, Gori District, and village of Dvani, Kareli District, which border on South Ossetia, and deepened the border line by about 300 meters towards Shida Kartli Region. To assess the conflict, the region was visited by the EU observation mission, whose members said that they had fixed the erection of the fencing.

In connection with the border demarcation, Georgia sent a note of protest to the Russian Federation, while the MFA of South Ossetia called the protest a "provocation", stressing that the territory of South Ossetia had been defined within the territorial boundaries of the former South-Ossetian Autonomous Region.

According to Konstantin Tasits, a researcher with the Institute of Strategic Studies, Russia and Georgia have become hostages of the policy of the previous authorities, who had relied on the forceful resolution of the conflict.