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South Ossetia to close border with Georgia ahead of presidential inauguration

Parliament Speaker Anatoly Bibilov won the April 9 presidential election receiving a total of 54.8% of the vote

TSKHINVAL, April 19. /TASS/. South Ossetia will close its border with Georgia on April 20, ahead of the inauguration of the newly-elected President Anatoly Bibilov, the press service of the republic’s State Security Committee told TASS.

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"In light of the upcoming presidential inauguration, security measures are to be stepped up form 21:00 on April 20, so individuals will not be allowed to cross the border with Georgia through facilities providing simplified border-crossing procedures," the press service said adding that the facilities would re-open at 8:00 on April 22.

Parliament Speaker Anatoly Bibilov won the April 9 presidential election receiving a total of 54.8% of the vote.

The presidential inauguration is scheduled to take place at the city stadium in South Ossetia’s capital of Sukhum at 16:00 local time (12:00 GMT) on April 21. Sources in the presidential administration told TASS that over 300 guests had been invited to attend the ceremony, including representatives of Russia’s authorities, heads of the Russian North Caucasus republic as well as leaders of friendly states.

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