EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell calls for the reopening of all crossing points at the South Ossetian Administrative Boundary Line, EU Delegation to Georgia said on Sunday.

According to the statement, the EU Monitoring Mission stands ready to facilitate further discussions within the framework of the Ergneti IPRM.

“Today we mark the two-year anniversary of the closing of the Odzisi crossing point at the South Ossetian Administrative Boundary Line (ABL). Prior to the closure, up to 400 crossings would take place on average every day.

For the past two years, ethnic Georgian residents of the Akhalgori District have been unable to cross and meet their relatives, collect their pensions or exercise their right to education in their native language. Further, access to medical care has been hampered, while reports of food and medicine shortages persist. In this regard, the recent easing of procedures regulating medical crossings from the Akhalgori District has been a welcomed development.

The EU is confident that a sensible and adequate COVID-19 testing strategy can be implemented in order to allow for greater freedom of movement and calls on the de facto authorities in Tskhinvali and the Russian Federation to allow for the reopening of all crossing points at the South Ossetian ABL,” the statement read.

My comments on the need to reopen all crossing points at the South Ossetian administrative border line:
➡️https://t.co/8Ao5iFPlxX pic.twitter.com/AslYmrETvK

— Carl Hartzell (@CarlHartzellEU) September 5, 2021