RUSSIA OPENS CLOSED BORDER FOR TEN DAYS

The Messenger, Georgia
Aug. 24, 2006

Almost two months have passed, according to Akhali Taoba, since
Russia closed a Georgian-Russian border crossing at Larsi Checkpoint,
allegedly due to repair work there. Russia made the decision a long
time ago but informed Georgia only two hours before the closure. The
Georgian side has negotiated with the Russian side several times, but
the Russians said they need more time to carry out necessary repairs.

The paper reports this will last for a long time, as Tbilisi doubts
that Russia will open the border in the near future. As a result the
Roki tunnel is expected to stay busy as it remains as the only route
to Russia. Russia’s decision has damaged Georgians as well as Russians
themselves, but most of all Armenians, who received big profits from
the now-closed Larsi route.

Now, to reach Russia, Armenian citizens have to pass through Georgian
territory and have their documents scrutinized at the Georgian
checkpoint.

In order to facilitate the procedure the Russian side decided to
open the Larsi checkpoint for a week to let Armenian citizens pass,
and then close it again. The suggested they would keep reopening
the border for some time to let Armenian citizens in and out. They
suggested that during this period Georgians will also have opportunity
to move through the checkpoint.

When Georgians learnt the reason for Russia’s proposal to reopen
the border and the timeframe, they turned it down and said that they
would rather Russia finish repair works and then permanently reopen
the border.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress