MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. South Ossetia’s President Anatoly Bibilov on Friday ruled out the possibility of a military conflict over Georgia’s construction of a roadblock in the border area.
"There will be no military confrontation, which the Georgian side is seeking. Residents of the Uista village are in safety and are under the protection of border guards," he said.
The president also denied rumors that his family members had left the country, adding that all of them remained in South Ossetia "except for my oldest son, who went to Moscow to study and was accompanied by his mother."
Earlier this week, South Ossetia informed of illegal construction of a roadblock by Georgia on the South Ossetian territory near the Uista settlement. The republic demanded Georgia to remove the roadblock; however, so far, Georgia has refused to do that.
South Ossetia's embassy in Moscow said the global community and international organizations preferred not to notice Georgia’s actions, aimed at fuelling tensions.
"The Georgian side is taking measures aimed at escalating tensions, which may destabilize the entire region. <…> We regret to inform that Georgia’s reluctance to engage in a constructive dialogue, as well as the lack of proper reaction on behalf of the international community, including the European Union and the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] may lead to a throwback, a situation similar to Georgia’s aggression in August 2008," the South Ossetian embassy’s press service said in a statement.
The embassy said that in order to defuse tensions and stabilize the situation, meetings were held within the framework of the Mechanism for Incidents Prevention and Response (MIPR) and the Monitoring Mission of the European Union and OSCE. Another meeting involving Georgia and South Ossetia is due on September 2.
"South Ossetia, committed to peaceful settlement measures in its relations with Georgia, once again urges international bodies to pay most serious attention to Georgia’s actions. At the same time, it reserves the right to defend its territory and citizens from any aggressor," the statement says.
Head of South Ossetia’s delegation at the Mechanism for Incidents Prevention and Response (MIPR) Egor Kochiyev said the republic set the terms "to remove the post until 6 am (on August 30), or the South Ossetian side will take all the measures stipulated by law." On Thursday, South Ossetia’s delegation left the MIPR meeting due to Georgia’s refusal to reach a compromise in the issue of the checkpoint’s construction.
On August 27, South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov visited the village of Uista and assured the locals that border security measures will be stepped up. On the following day, the South Ossetian side set up additional checkpoints near the community.