We saw limitations on the freedom of movement of local residents across the administrative boundary lines, Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania, and the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office declared at the 27th meeting of the OSCE Ministerial Council.

According to the current OSCE President, the restrictions magnified socio-economic hardships and in some cases placed an additional bargain on people in need of medical care.

“Our chairmanship is also set to prioritize the situation of the conflict-affected population in Georgia. There were glimpses of cooperation and pragmatism on public health issues which the OSCE implemented through its good offices. In fact, the OSCE was able to increase its regular contact with all stakeholders. At the same time, however, we observe the erection of additional obstacles as part of so-called “borderization” efforts and we saw limitations on the freedom of movement of local residents across the administrative boundary lines. With restrictions magnified socio-economic hardships and in some cases placing an additional bargain on both city and medical care, the dialogue efforts on the Geneva international discussions had to be postponed. Although, we welcome the commitment of all participants to reconvene those talks next week after a pause for nearly a year,” Edi Rama said.

The two-day 27th OSCE Ministerial Council kicked off in Tirana on December 3. Due to the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time, the Ministerial Council is held via video teleconferencing.