DISINFO: Provocation: EU observers violated South Ossetia's border with Georgia
SUMMARY
South Ossetian border control officers stopped the patrol of EUMM that violated the republic’s border with Georgia in the vicinity of Tsneilisi populated area. This was a provocation and inadmissible step on the part of the mission members.
RESPONSE
The statement is untrue. On October 24, a patrol of the EUMM was held by armed South Ossetian security actors, while conducting a patrol in the Chorchana-Tsnelisi area. EU Monitoring Mission released a statement noting that the incident "happened in an area understood to be on Tbilisi-Administered Territory in accordance with the traditional interpretation of the Administrative Boundary Line in that area." EUMM mission was deployed immediately following the war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. The mandate is to support the restoration of ordinary life, to prevent a return to hostilities, to build confidence among the conflict parties and to inform about EU policy. Read more cases on South Ossetia and Abkhazia here.