Georgia fumes as Russia closes border crossing

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow
8 Jul 06

Stavropol, 8 July: The Russian high-altitude border crossing point
Verkhniy Lars on the Georgian Military Highway that links Russia and
Georgia was closed today for planned rebuilding work. As an ITAR-TASS
correspondent was informed at the headquarters of the Russian
Federation Federal Security Service’s North Caucasus directorate,
the repairs are being accompanied by a complete cessation of freight
and human transit both from Georgia and from Russia, and the Georgian
side was notified of this several months ago. "There was nothing
unexpected about this for anyone," the agency’s source noted.

At the same time, as ITAR-TASS correspondent Eka Mekhuzla has reported
from Tbilisi, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli has declared
that the Russian side’s decision to close traffic through the Verkhniy
Lars checkpoint "was not coordinated" with Tbilisi. According to
Noghaideli, he has "instructed the Georgian Foreign Ministry to
clarify the causes" of the Russian side’s closure of the checkpoint.

According to the HQ of the Russian Federation Federal Security
Service’s North Caucasus directorate, the Nizhniy Zaramag Russian
border crossing point continues to function round the clock on the
Russian-Georgian state border. It is based at the Roki Pass on the
Transcaucasus Highway. According to the HQ, "there are no queues
of vehicles or of citizens of Georgia or Russia crossing the border
there – there are no difficulties over border transit".

"The volume of reconstruction at Verkhniy Lars is large. New border
control services fitted with the most up-to-date equipment will
be installed, and living conditions for officers and men are to
be fundamentally improved – so it is not possible at the moment to
name a date for the completion of the rebuilding work with sufficient
precision," the HQ of the North Caucasus border directorate notes. The
only thing that is clear is that "Verkhniy Lars will resume operations
only when the upgrade work is fully completed", the HQ said.

[The Georgian Foreign Ministry has issued an official statement
condemning the closure of the Verkhniy Lars border crossing as an
"unfriendly" act, according to RIA Novosti news agency, Moscow, in
Russian 1451 gmt 8 Jul 06. "This decision of Russia’s is an attempt
to put pressure on Georgia. We view the closure of the border as
an unfriendly and provocative act whose aim is to discredit Georgia
in the eyes of the world community and to put economic and political
pressure on it." The ministry appealed to the "world community to make
an objective assessment of Russia’s calculated and improper actions
against Georgia so that a possible escalation of the situation can
be avoided and the situation on this sector of the Georgian-Russian
border can be defused in good time".

The agency said the Russian charge d’affaires has been summoned to
the Georgian Foreign Ministry and handed a protest note that says
Georgian border guards were given two hours’ notice of the closure
by fax, when at least three months’ notice would have been required
under a 1993 agreement.

Speaking during a visit to Batumi, Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Markaryan said the closure of Verkhniy Lars "will be a serious problem
for Yerevan" as agricultural produce from Armenia passes through the
crossing point, and the only alternative is the Georgian port of Poti,
RIA Novosti news agency, Moscow, in Russian 1518 gmt 8 Jul 06 said.]