![]() This moving border policy exploits Tbilisi’s concern about the lasting loss of a large segment of its territory, pushing the Georgian government to the negotiating table with the Kremlin. Other researchers arrive at the count of 54 unilateral border changes by Russia between 20. Between 20, it is estimated that Russia unilaterally changed the border to the detriment of Georgia 56 times. Stories like that of Dato Vanishvili, whose land was incorporated into South Ossetia overnight in May 2015, nearly seven years after the 2008 war, are multiplying. This border, the course of which is often changed without warning, further increases the insecurity of the Georgian population. Georgians are being evicted from the newly occupied lands and risk kidnapping if they cross the new administrative border which has been arbitrarily established with the blessing of Moscow. a non-definitive administrative border which temporarily separates territorial entities such as empires, a concept which is also at the origin of the word border. This mobile border takes on the appearance of a real front – i.e. This policy of border mobility is based on an elastic understanding of Soviet law (and in particular of the Constitution of 1977), which would allow these entities to recover all of the territories they enjoyed during their Soviet autonomy. The territorial claims of the secessionist authorities are up to Moscow, which thus increases its territorial control indirectly. The mobile nature of this “border” allows Russia to scavenge more small chunks of territory as it sees fit, thus expanding its area of occupation. Having achieved the status of de facto states, i.e., without recognition from the international community, but with the support of their Russian sponsor, the two secessionist territories maintain territorial claims on plots of land in their autonomous territory, such as it was limited to the Soviet regime which had disappeared for thirty years, which still eludes their control. Behind these scarcely veiled secessionist territories hides Moscow’s hand without which it would be impossible for them to maintain their artificial independence. Since the occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia and the latter’s recognition of their independence, a so-called administrative border separates the seized territories from the rest of Georgia. The absence of an international monitoring mandate makes these abuses invisible, as secessionist groups and their Russian backers continue to employ extra-legal methods of coercion with impunity. parents who live 500 metres from the contact line. Kvaratskhelia, another Georgian, Givi Beruashvili, was arrested by the occupying forces in Ditsi, a village bordering the Tskhinvali region, for visiting his elders. On March 17, 2019, just a few days after the death of Mr. Although the Abkhaz authorities alleged his suicide, examinations of the remains clearly show indications of torture. Kvaratskhelia while visiting Gali in March 2019, is one example. Indeed, the suspicious death of a 29-year-old Georgian, Mr. The mobility of borders in a context of what many have called a “frozen” conflict shows, on the one hand, that the conflict is precisely not “frozen” and, on the other hand, that it continues to cause human losses. The timid Western response to this blatant violation of international law may have encouraged Moscow to annex Crimea in a similar land grab in 2014. Russia continues to violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia with its aggressive “moving border” policy, a strategy that involves the gradual annexation of small segments of Georgian territory through the expansion of its already illegally occupied areas. It has now been more than twelve years since Russian forces invaded Georgia and occupied 20% of its territory. In the context of parliamentary elections in Georgia, slated for October 31, 2020, Russian pressure on this small Caucasian state continues, both through increasing land seizures and massive propaganda campaigns.Īs the spotlight turns to Nagorno-Karabakh, a secessionist territory of Azerbaijan whose dormant conflict was revived in September 27, 2020, there are other secessionist territories nearby in the Caucasus, Georgia, which deserve media attention just as much.
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