US grant helps Georgian Border Guards and OSCE to enhance co-operation in border monitoring

TBILISI, 29 July 2003 - Better equipment for patrolling the mountainous Chechen, Ingush and Dagestan segments of the Georgian-Russian border was handed over to the Head of the Georgian border guards today at the OSCE Mission's headquarters.

The goods, purchased with USD 800,000 of US Government aid were officially received by Valeri Chkheidze, Chairman of the State Department of the Georgian State Border Protection. Items included 4-WD patrol vehicles, medical evacuation stretchers, military boots, cooking stoves, torches, binoculars and first-aid kits.

This hand-over underscores the active co-operation of the OSCE's 55 participating States in providing assistance to the Georgian border guards, who has been working with OSCE monitors since January 2000.

"The Georgian border guards provide security to the OSCE border monitors," said Ambassador Jean-Michel Lacombe, Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia.

"The US Government's donation will enable the Georgian and OSCE personnel to operate together in the hazardous terrain of the border area, in extreme weather conditions."

US Ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, said his country had been a staunch supporter of the OSCE's Border Monitoring Operation and the Georgian Border Guard since their inception.

"Through our efforts in the Border Security and Law Enforcement Programme and, more recently, the Georgia Train-and-Equip Programme, the U.S. Government has engaged in long and fruitful co-operation with General Chkheidze and the Georgian Border Guard," he said. "This co-operation has been one of the cornerstones of our security relationship with Georgia, including our partnership in the global war on terror."

A recent EU grant of 100,000 euros and today's US grant demonstrate to the OSCE border monitors and their Georgian colleagues that their work is considered by the OSCE participating States as useful and professional, making a positive impact on the peaceful development of the border area and the whole country.

The OSCE Mission to Georgia was mandated in December 1999 to observe and report on movement across the Chechen segment of the Georgian border with the Russian Federation. The Operation was extended to cover the Ingush and Dagestan segments of the border in December 2001 and December 2002, respectively.