On 11 July the officers of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of South Ossetia stopped a vehicle that belonged to the OSCE Mission in Tskhinval. Further to that the acting chairman of the OSCE Karel De Gyukht demanded an explanation from the leadership of South Ossetia. The correspondent of “Res” agency approached Boris Chochiev, First deputy Prime Minister, to comment the situation:
”The South Ossetian side has informed the OSCE Mission a number of times that the special forces of Georgia were planning provocations against the OSCE military observers to accuse South Ossetia. That is why we have suggested to the OSCE to curry out monitoring in the conflict zone together with the JPKF to ensure their security. Despite of that and without prior coordination with us and without the military observers they continue to move in the conflict zone. On 11 July they were stopped on Zar road on the same spot where in 1992 the Georgian bandits executed 36 peaceful residents. Part of that road is not in the conflict zone that is why they were escorted back to Tskhinval by the sub-division of the Ministry of Interior, however, they claim that they were escorted by heavily armed officers. The South Ossetian side again confirmed that was able to ensure full security, at the same time we insist on revision of the Memorandum that was signed for a period of 3 months in 1993 between the leadership of South Ossetia and the OSCE to regulate our relations with the OSCE Mission. As for the status of the military observers in South Ossetia, unfortunately, it is not stated in any single document. Therefore, the conclusion can be that their presence on the territory of South Ossetia is illegal. As of today their mandate is not clear. We again suggest signing of a new Memorandum that would regulate our relations and responsibilities”.
