WASHINGTON TheUnited States andits allies have called onMoscow todismantle barriers erected byRussian border control guards between Georgia andits de-facto independent republic ofSouth Ossetia, saying theso-called "borderization" violates Tbilisi's sovereignty.

"We note with concern thecontinued andincreasing activities byRussian security forces toerect fences andother physical barriers along theadministrative boundary lines ofthe occupied territories inGeorgia," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said Wednesday.

Georgian officials andcitizens living onthe border with South Ossetia have sounded thealarm since Russian border guards last month started installing barbed-wire fencing near Georgia's border with thebreakaway republic.

South Ossetia delegated theprotection ofits borders toRussia ina 2009 deal, citing theabsence ofits own border patrol. Russia anda handful ofother countries have recognized South Ossetia andanother de-facto independent region, Abkhazia, as sovereign governments, but most other countries continue toconsider them as part ofGeorgia.

Thedispute over thetwo regions has been asticking point inrelations between Russia andWestern countries, which criticized Moscow's decision torecognize thetwo republics in2008 after Russia andGeorgia fought abrief war over South Ossetia.

Tbilisi accused Russia earlier this year ofexecuting aland grab byerecting fencing between South Ossetia andGeorgia, though Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said inJune that Moscow was merely acting under theterms ofits 2009 deal with South Ossetia.

Ina statement nearly identical tothe one read byHarf onWednesday, North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said thefence-building "does not contribute toa peaceful resolution ofthe conflict."

"It has anegative impact onthe situation onthe ground, andit affects thelives ofthose citizens ofGeorgia who live oneither side ofthe administrative boundary lines," Rasmussen said Wednesday. "I call forthe removal ofthese barriers."

TheNATO chief also called onRussia "to reverse its recognition ofthe South Ossetia andAbkhazia regions ofGeorgia as independent states."

Thestatements fromNATO andthe State Department came aday after Catherine Ashton, theEU's high representative forforeign affairs andsecurity policy, called onthe barriers tobe removed andexpressed "profound concern" over "the continued andincreasing activities byRussian security forces toerect fences andother obstacles along administrative boundary lines inGeorgia."

Link:
U.S. and NATO Urge Russia to Dismantle Georgia Border Fences

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October 3, 2013 at 6:49 am by Mr HomeBuilder
Category: Fences