117th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meeting takes place in Ergneti

ERGNETI, 13 February 2024 – The 117th Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti today under the co-facilitation of the Acting Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), Tibor Kozma, and the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, Viorel Moşanu.

The EUMM and OSCE welcomed participants in the first IPRM meeting of the year and recalled their expectation for a continued commitment of the participants to the format, with regular meetings and active focus on preventing incidents. Ambassador Moşanu, now representing the 2024 OSCE Chairpersonship of Malta, also pointed to the good practice of accompanying technical meetings on water irrigation issues, in particular. He voiced his hope to sustain established efforts and initiatives.

Reflecting on security incidents and relevant developments since the last IPRM meeting, the co-facilitators highlighted the importance to focus on the safety of the conflict-affected communities – women, men, children and elderly – as a collective priority. Accordingly, they called on participants to withstand security and stability along the administrative boundary line (ABL), to ensure freedom of movement, and to fully re-open crossing points, including for regular cross-ABL traffic. Discussions also covered the security situation in Chorchana-Tsnelisi area, as well as the topic of UAVs.

Additionally, participants praised the EUMM-managed Hotline and thanked co-facilitators for the timely exchange of information in case of any crisis and incidents.

As previously, the co-facilitators encouraged participants to discontinue the practice of detentions and advocated for the release of remaining detainees.

The participants agreed to convene the next regular IPRM meeting on 20 March 2024.