Georgia, Tbilisi, October 3/Trend, N. Kirtzkhalia/
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has welcomed the statements by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton condemning the construction of fences by Russian troops in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone.
According to the Ministry, their statements clearly stress that this process is an infringement of Georgia's territorial integrity and negatively affects the humanitarian situation of the local population and contradicts Russia's international obligations.
In their statements which were published on Wednesday, Ashton and Rasmussen called on Russia to remove the fences from along the administrative borders of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali which create problems for the local population and stability in the region. Beginning in May of this year, Russian border guards have been building barbed wires along the administrative border of the Tskhinvali region (the so-called South Ossetia) with the rest of Georgia. According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, the removing of the line to Georgia's far inland is observed in some areas. The same processes are observed in the administrative border with Abkhazia.
Large scale military action was launched in South Ossetia on August 8, 2008. Later, Russian troops occupied Tskhinvali and expelled the Georgian military.
Russia recognised the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in late August. In response, Tbilisi ended diplomatic relations with Moscow and has called the two unrecognised republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied territories.