OSCE Monitors patrol road to Tskhinvali

TBILISI, 4 September 2008 - OSCE Military Monitoring Officers today patrolled the road from Karaleti to Megrevekisi, 4 km from Tskhinvali, for the first time since the outbreak of hostilities in Georgia last month.

OSCE monitors were able to access the road towards Tskhinvali from Karaleti, which is just off the M1.

"Access to the area has been a focus for the OSCE and international partners, and we welcome this important step," said Ambassador Terhi Hakala, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia.

"Since the recent fighting in Georgia in August, the OSCE and its Finnish Chairmanship has worked intensively to contribute to reducing tension between the parties."

As part of that effort, on 19 August, the OSCE decided to increase the number of military monitoring officers in Georgia by up to 100, with immediate deployment of 20.

The rapidly deployed observers, recruited from OSCE participating States, have joined the OSCE Mission to Georgia's original 8 Military Monitoring Officers to enhance the monitoring of the security situation on the ground.