76th IPRM meeting takes place in Ergneti

ERGNETI, 4 April 2017 - The 76th meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was held in Ergneti. Ambassador Guenther Baechler, Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, and Kestutis Jankauskas, Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), co-facilitated the proceedings.

Ambassador Guenther Baechler opened the meeting. All participants offered their condolences on the tragic event in Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, and offered sympathy to all families concerned.

Kestutis Jankauskas provided a short overall summary of events since the last meeting, including detentions, safety of people working in the fields and hotline activations. All hotline holders were thanked for their important work during the past month. The use of the hotline for exchange of information was again encouraged.

The security situation along the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) was assessed as relatively calm.

Participants again discussed the ongoing imprisonment of Giorgi Giunashvili.

Challenges related to freedom of movement around the ABL, and their impact on economic activities in the vicinity, were discussed.

As the agricultural season is under way, there is a need to ensure the safety of farmers while conducting work in the vicinity of the ABL. Views were exchanged on possible courses of action. Participants agreed to follow up on the matter.

Concern was expressed at the negative impact and risks arising from grass fires along the ABL.

The importance of the exchange of information on military and security activities was again emphasized.

The next meeting will take place on 11 May 2017.