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Ignacio Sanchez Amor, Special Representative of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly on Border Co-operation, today visited the administrative boundary lines in Georgia separating the region of South Ossetia. Following his visits to the villages of Ditsi and Didi Khurvaleti in the region of Gori, the Special Representative expressed deep regret regarding the establishment of physical obstacles along the administrative borders between the territory under Georgian control and the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. 

Sanchez Amor, a Member of Parliament from Spain, is in Georgia to observe the presidential election on 27 October as part of a delegation representing the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

“I call on the involved authorities to stop this process immediately and to remove the barbwire which prevents the residents in the area from living a normal daily life and contravenes the principle of the territorial integrity of Georgia,” said Sanchez Amor. “It is sad to see ordinary people being exposed to such hardship.”

“This is of course also an election-related concern,” continued Sanchez Amor. “How can people vote if they are barred from their polling station by barbwire? This is something that I will also look into. I want to bring this question to the forefront of the agenda in the OSCE. After all, this is a security question for many people, but is also deeply related to the fundamental human rights of the people who live in the area,” he continued.

The Special Representative is mandated to promote co-operation in and among border regions in the OSCE area and to raise awareness regarding border-related issues, OSCE PA reported.