ZEMO LARSI CHECKPOINT ISSUE

Messenger.ge
Friday, January 29

Georgian Prime Minister Nika Gilauri stated during his Yerevan visit
on January 26 that the opening of the Zemo Larsi checkpoint is very
beneficial for Armenia and the Russians were lifting all obstacles
to doing this.

The Zemo Larsi checkpoint was first blocked on September 1, 2004
during the terrorist attack on Beslan School No 1. It reopened in
October but was then closed again on July 2006, allegedly so that
reconstruction works could take place on the Russian side. In reality
this was a Russian attempt to damage Georgia’s transport capacity.

In May 2009 Russia declared the reconstruction works complete
and Moscow and Tbilisi expressed their interest in reopening the
checkpoint. Russian President Medvedev stated in 2009 that there is
nothing preventing this and Russian officials more recently stated
that on March 1, 2010 traffic movement will begin there.

The Georgian population of Armenian ethnicity in the Javakheti region
is very much promoting the idea of opening of this route as this is
the only land connection between Armenia and Russia. As Armenian MP
Stephan Saparian stated, opening this checkpoint is mostly beneficial
for Armenia from the economic and communications point of view.