When the whole world, including Georgia, is trying to deal with the Coronavirus pandemic, the process of illegal “borderization” continues along ABL near occupied South Ossetia. What is the situation in the occupied territories, how frequently human rights are violated and is the number of representatives of monitoring mission enough to face existing challenges. “Interpressnews” talked about these and other questions of current interests with the Head of EUMM who was appointed as Head of monitoring mission in Georgia in March of present year.

Since this is my first interview with your agency, let me briefly introduce myself and in a few words present my vision and perspective on my mission in Georgia. I am a Polish diplomat with about 26 years of professional experience. Prior to my current function, I was ambassador-at-large for emerging security challenges in the Polish MFA.

Before that I was the Polish ambassador to Romania.

I have also worked on high positions defining conflict prevention and security policy in Poland and outside of country. I would like to say that I am glad to be in Georgia. It is an honor for me to have the opportunity to work here and carry out the mandate of the EU Monitoring Mission.

I expect to work with all relevant parties according to interests of peace and security, especially for interests and benefits of people effected by the conflict because by the end of the day this is why we are all here-people.

- I am glad you are here, trying to contribute to solving the problems in the region. First of all, I would like to ask you how difficult and problematic the situation in the vicinity of the administrative borders with Abkhazia and South Ossetia is?

Yes, indeed, this issue is the subject of my concern. We have seen very serious and unprecedented restrictions of the freedom of movement for people living near the Administrative Boundary Line. This definitely has a very negative effect on the availability of medical service in special cases, including current pandemic. It also affects physical well-being of people and, of course, their living conditions. So, the long-term closure of so-called crossing points, for example in the case of Odzisi, which is usually the main crossing point for residents of Akhalgori, has been closed for 141 days and it is very difficult for the population, as it dramatically reduces access to proper medical service and education, and also, access to their own land for farmers.

I think it is important to note in this context, that the Mission’s managed Hotline organized by the European Union Monitoring Mission plays an important role, as we can help to solve some very acute problems on the ground. For example, we facilitate medical crossings urgently across the Administrative Boundary Line when a person is in real danger. We had 2,362 hotline activations last year and this year we see that the numbers have increased. We can say, we averagely have 8 hotline activations per day.

- You mentioned Coronavirus, I had communication with the representatives of the European Office of the World Health Organization and I asked them the same question, since Central Government of Georgia does not have access to the occupied territories, they do not have the relevant information. However, you might have specific information about the transmission of coronavirus at the occupied territories and pandemic?

We rely on information from open sources published in media or by de facto official sources, but we also try to monitor the situation by conducting interviews and surveys, mainly using phones now, what is a kind of a precautionary measure. We try to contact people who might have connection with people living beyond Administrative Boundary Line to understand what is going on there and we actually try to provide information to the relevant part in EU to help them see the full picture of the current situation. I think it should be noted that the situation in the territory controlled by the Central Government of Georgia is good in terms of a pandemic, especially compared to some other countries. So, the management of the crisis by Georgia and the Georgian government can be considered as a good model for other countries. However, I would like to say that the pandemic can have long-term consequences, so we must be prepared to act in the coming months under the pressure of the pandemic, which emphasizes the importance of freedom of movement even more. I also think it is better to work together in these conditions, because no one can handle this challenge alone. Cooperation is always beneficial for all parties.

- You mentioned the restriction of freedom of movement along ABL and therefore the lack of medical services. What are the other important challenges for the EU mission in this area?

I think that one general and the biggest challenge is the fact that we still do not have access to the breakaway regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, even though our mandate, adopted in 2008, covers the entire territory of Georgia. The second major challenge is that the tools of dialogue that we had, have been suspended now, so we are concerned about the lack of personal direct dialogue that we are experiencing now. EUMM co-facilitates meetings of Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism, which is being held in Ergneti and has unfortunately been suspended since August last year. It is extremely important to resume these regular meetings as soon as possible, as there are number of practical issues that have impact on the population affected by the conflict, and this can be discussed and resolved through direct communication. Our mission works together with colleagues from the OSCE to resume Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism meetings in Ergneti. We also hope that the next round of Geneva International Discussions will be held soon. The main challenge now, is to resume this dialogue, because otherwise I am afraid that we will have a complicated situation on the ground and we will have a very limited opportunity to solve these problems.

- The mission in Georgia was established by European Union in 2008. Can you asses if the human rights have deteriorated or, improved in the regions adjacent to administrative border?

The mission closely monitors many issues related to human security and rights. This includes access to education in the native language, access to modern medical care, freedom of movement, but we must also know that the so-called “borderization” process has a direct impact on the daily lives of people living near ABL and we are actually the only international organization on ground that does this kind of monitoring.

I would like to call on everyone who has the opportunity to make positive changes to act nowbecause I think that humanitarian approach would be the most practical for solving these issues. When I mentioned the process of “borderization”, it does not have just the humanitarian aspect, these barriers separate societies, neighbors, relatives and it scares people, as well as threatens stability, because such steps create unnecessary tensions and in recent months, we have been witnessing when additional work needed for “borderization” has become the source of additional tensions. We fortunately managed to avoid any incidents.

- I would like to note that the creeping annexation and the illegal process of “borderization” took place even during the pandemic of Covid 19. Georgian citizens who allegedly violated the so-called border are often kidnapped and detained. Considering all this, how do you think, is the number of international monitors enough? Are you going to increase their number?

We have already increased the number of our international staff to 200 last year, and in fact this was the answer to the developments in the area of Chorchana-Tsneli at the end of last summer. It was an attempt from our side to increase our presence in this area. We are able to increase our operational capabilities quickly, we can monitor 24/7 and we continued to carry out our mandate for the past few months even during pandemic.

We have already had the opportunity to talk to you about the problems that exist in the region, so now I want to ask you, what are your specific goals for the next few months, which you will consider as your legacy in future?

It’s been about three months since I have started exercising my duties, and as I have said, the Coronavirus pandemic has affected my initial plans, but there are 3 priorities that I am trying to put in practice now. First is the quick resumption of the Ergneti IPRM meetings, we also support the resumption of the GID. Additionally, mission provides factual and objective information to EU leaders and EU member states. This is very important in the current situation, as there are no visits or direct talks conducted now. We are here, on ground, as the information providers. As the Head of Mission, another priority that I have is further strengthening of relationship with the Georgian state institutions. It is important to remember that the EU has, repeated and reaffirmed in many cases, its strong support for the peaceful resolution of the conflict using all the existing tools, and these tools include policy of non-recognition and engagement. The work of EUMM on ground is the demonstration of this strong commitment. So, our active and visible presence on ground is a daily confirmation of this policy. We also work closely with the Delegation of the European Union to Tbilisi and the EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus. We also contribute to the future engagement of European Union in the region by implementing our mandate. I can generally say that the security situation along ABL is relatively stable, but it can be tense from time to time. It doesn’t happen automatically, I mean a relatively stable situation, because it requires constant efforts of our staff.

- And the last question Mr. Szczygiel you may have heard about concerns of the citizens of Georgia that government of country does not criticize Russian Federation for the ongoing aggression and illegal actions near so-called border. How do you assess the actions of the Georgian government?

- Assessing actions of Georgian government and its decisions is not part of our mandate, but I can tell you from my personal observations that Georgian government and the Georgian diplomatic representations abroad are very active in raising issues related to the post-conflict situation at international level.

Salome Abulashvili