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“Borderization” Continues in Georgia

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“Borderization” Continues in Georgia EURASIA “Borderization” Continues in Georgia OE Watch Commentary: In August 2019, the Georgian government established a police checkpoint near the village of Chorchana as part of an effort to counter what it has called the “borderization” of its territory by forces from the occupied region of South Ossetia (see: “A Change in the ‘Borderization’ Process for Georgia?” OE Watch, October 2019). The checkpoint initially appeared to have some effect and helped the Georgian government with public relations at a time when many in the country did not believe enough was being done to counter “borderization.” As the accompanying excerpted articles report, Georgia’s border with the occupied South Ossetia region continues to shift and the reported incidents provide an update on how this is taking place. The articles, from Georgia’s English-language news website Civil.ge, report on two recent incidents in which occupying forces erected “illegal A Georgian villager is left beyond the barbwire installed by the Russian troops along the South Ossetia-Georgia contact line in September 2013. installations” on Georgian government controlled territory. The first incident Source: VOA via Wikimedia, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Barbwires_in_South_Ossetia,_Georgia._September_2013.jpg, took place on 14 January near the village of Chorchana of the Khashuri Public domain Municipality, at the dividing line with the Tskhinvali Region. The second incident took place on 20 January in the village of Gugutiantkari of the Gori Municipality. The villages of Chorchana and Gugutiantkari are in two different districts that do not border each other, but are notable since both made headlines in August 2019 – Chorchana because of the police checkpoint and Gugutiantkari since part of it became divided after occupation forces installed fencing. There is no mention of how far away the “illegal installations” are from the police checkpoint at Chorchana. The first article reports on the “illegal installations” near Chorchana without specifying the type of barrier. The second article on the report of borderization in Gugutiantkari includes a statement from Georgia’s State Security Service that “barbed wires are being replaced with so-called border fencing.” The second article also mentions that the State Security Service is reacting to the situation “without specifying the measures taken.” While it is unknown what measures the Georgian government might take in response to the latest incidents, the articles show that borderization continues despite previous efforts to counter it.End OE Watch Commentary (Stein) “Barbed wires are being replaced with so-called border fencing, which is... part of [the] so-called ‘borderization’ [process].” Source: “Security Service Reports on Illegal ‘Borderization’ on Tbilisi-Controlled Territory,” Civil.ge, 14 January 2020. https://civil.ge/ archives/334487 The State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) informed Civil.ge today that the occupying forces erected “illegal installations” on Tbilisi-controlled territory near Chorchana village of Khashuri Municipality, at the dividing line with Tskhinvali Region… “The issue of provocative actions of the occupying forces in the forest near the villages of Chorchana and Tsaghvli of Khashuri Municipality has been strongly put forward both at the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings, as well as the rounds of Geneva International Discussions (GIDs),” the Security Service added… In September, amid increasing tensions over the Georgian police checkpoint, occupation forces erected signs to mark “the border” in the Chorchana- Tsnelisi area. The EU monitors then confirmed that these pushed the line of occupation 1.3 kilometres into the Tbilisi-administered area. Source: “Georgia Security Service: Occupying Forces Continue Fencing on Tbilisi-Controlled Territory,” Civil.ge, 21 January 2020. https:// civil.ge/archives/335173 The State Security Service of Georgia (SSG) informed Civil Georgia (Civil.ge) on January 20 that the forces of Russian occupation “continue provocative actions” along the dividing line between Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and Georgia proper. According to the SSG, “they have erected illegal installations on the Georgian central government-controlled territory in Gugutiantkari village of Gori Municipality.” “Barbed wires are being replaced with so-called border fencing, which is the part of so-called ‘borderization’ [process],” the SSG said. …A day earlier, on January 19, Davit Katsarava, leader of the “Strength in Unity” anti-occupation vigilante group, spread reports via his Facebook page, saying that occupying forces have marked trees across Chorchana-Perevi area – allegedly readying for another round of “borderization” activities…Katsarava further claimed that occupying forces moved the dividing line few hundreds meters deeper into Tbilisi-administered territory near the village of Perevi in Sachkhere Municipality. The SSG told Civil.ge that they are now “thoroughly inspecting” the mentioned area, and noted that the Government “is reacting adequately to illegal markings and each alleged case of ‘borderization’”, without specifying the measures taken. OE Watch | March 2020 18.
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