Deputy Foreign Minister Irakli Tuzhba, Deputy of Parliament Astamur Logua, Deputy Head of the Consular Department of the Foreign Ministry Lasha Avidzba and Head of the Department for Interaction with International Organizations of the Foreign Ministry Artur Gagulia answered questions of journalists. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Irakli Tuzhba informed journalists about the results of the round. 

“We talked about the situation with coronavirus infection in our country, that patients are being provided with necessary assistance in Gudauta Central Hospital. At the request of the Abkhaz side, there has been opened a multidisciplinary Russian military hospital in Sukhum. On the basis of district hospitals opened departments for patients with COVID-19. We thanked the Russian Federation for its assistance in the fight against coronavirus infection, as well as international organizations that continue to support us in this matter, ” Tuzhba said. 

Referring to situation on the border with Georgia, Tuzhba said: “With the exception of the Georgian side, all the participants in the discussions assessed the situation in Abkhazia, and in particular in Gal region, as stable and safe. No major incidents have been reported recently. Nevertheless, we stated that the constant attempts to illegally cross the state border with Georgia do not stop, as a result of which many citizens are detained, in respect of whom administrative fines are mainly imposed, but there are also cases when they are subject to criminal prosecution and serve sentences ". 

There was also discussed the incident with the detention of a citizen of Georgia Irakli Bebua, who on September 30 set fire to a canvas with Abkhaz state symbols. There was opened a criminal case against Bebua. He was charged under several articles. The court sentenced him to serve a sentence of imprisonment for 9 years on December 7.

“This caused an inadequate reaction from our Georgian opponents. The State Security Service of Georgia made a statement. The Georgian side demanded the immediate release of Bebua, calling his arrest illegal. In our speech, we turned to the representatives of the State Security Service of Georgia, with a reasonable question  why the State Security Service of Georgia and the Georgian authorities believe that citizens of Georgia have the right to commit a crime on the territory of another country and not carry any responsibility for this. Unfortunately, we did not hear any intelligible answer, ”Tuzhba said. 

According to deputy minister, it has already become a practice for the Georgian side not to answer uncomfortable questions and just keep silent. 

The Abkhaz side in Geneva expressed concern about the ongoing build-up of Georgia's military potential.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia makes regular statements on this topic, tries to draw the attention of all participants and mediators to a very serious problem that can cause another round of tension in the region. We draw your attention to the fact that Georgia is carrying out the process of rearmament and re-equipment of the armed forces. There are regularly held exercises under the auspices of NATO in Georgia. This is all worrying. We drew attention to the fact that all the processes related to the militarization of Georgia and its support from the United States and other NATO partners were also characteristic of the events preceding the war in South Ossetia in 2008, " Irakli Tuzhba said.

We can not achieve some serious progress on agreeing a legally binding document on the non-use of military force. The Georgian side is trying to substitute concepts and distort the existing reality, as a result of which we cannot come to a common denominator. The essence of our point of view is that Georgia has repeatedly acted as an aggressor against Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The South Ossetian and  Russian colleagues also agreed. Georgia must undertake obligations not to use military force against Abkhazia and South Ossetia. At this stage, we are not talking about signing a full-fledged document, we are talking about an oral statement. But Georgia is not going to take this step. Therefore, we are marking time. All the participants, except the Georgian side, are ready to confirm the oral statement on the non-use of force, " Tuzhba said. 

Refusing even an oral statement, Georgia does not offer anything in return. 

“They are satisfied with this "deadlock", which closes opportunities for Abkhazia and South Ossetia to speak at other international venues. Representatives of Georgia travel and impose their one-sided position on these sites. Unfortunately, we cannot argue with them at these sites. And the world is creating a one-sided view of the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and their consequences. As a result, representatives of the international community often make extremely biased statements and accept documents that do not correspond to reality in these regions. We draw attention to this during the Geneva Discussions, ” said Deputy Foreign Minister of Abkhazia. 

Tuzhba also noted that the Georgian side is trying to deny the existence of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict, and insists that this is an exclusively Georgian-Russian conflict.

Deputy Minister also informed about the US warships in the Black Sea: “This year, US Navy ships have made numerous visits to the Black Sea. Typically, ships of this class carry more than 50 cruise missiles, including those with nuclear warheads. We asked our American colleagues why this is being done and what is the need for it. Such facts create additional tension in our region, ” Tuzhba said.

One of the participants of Geneva discussions Lasha Avidzba said that Georgian opponents often refer to situation in Gal region. “They claim that there are illegal detentions of people crossing the administrative border. We, in turn, declare that this is a state border, ” he said. 

According to Avidzba, out of 4,000 cases of detention for illegal crossing of the Georgian-Abkhaz state border, only 16 people were subjected to administrative punishment.

 “This is a kind gesture from the Abkhaz side, in other countries people bear criminal responsibility for this,” Avidzba said. 

From round to round the question of education in Gal district is being raised. 

“The point is that we are reducing the number of hours for learning the Georgian language, we are introducing Russian and we want to create artificial conditions so that children forget their native language. The essence of our arguments is that people who do not speak Russian and Abkhaz languages ​​cannot integrate into our society, they will have no further future and they will not be able to enter a university, get a job, etc., ” said Lasha Avidzba. 

The Abkhaz side in Geneva also provided information on organization humanitarian corridors for pensioners who could not get to Georgia to receive pensions because of the pandemic. 

It was not the first time when there was raised an issue of free movement of citizens of Abkhazia, who cannot travel abroad with Abkhaz passports with the exception of countries that recognized the independence of the Republic of Abkhazia. 

“There are a lot of Abkhaz citizens who do not possess Russian Federation citizenship and are deprived of the opportunity to travel anywhere. We told about this the American delegation, the European Union, and everyone present.We give examples, including the Northern Cyprus and Palestine, when people are stamped in their national passports that give them the right to cross the border, ” said Lasha Avidzba. 

Astamur Logua proposed to devote a separate round of the Geneva discussions only on issue of free movement of citizens of Abkhazia. 

He also noted: “Georgians are always interested in internal and foreign policy of Abkhazia. We were asked questions about the agreements signed by Abkhazia. The Russian side was also asked questions about the harmonization of the legislation of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Abkhazia, the legalization of the residential real estate market, about NGOs and foreign agents. Maybe we did not act very correctly interrupting the representative of the Russian delegation, but we considered it necessary to answer these questions ourselves, ” Logua said. 

Logua said that he is a member of the working group on harmonization of the laws of the two countries, which will discuss up to 40 different issues, but there is no residential real estate market among them. 

As for "foreign agents", there is no doubt in citizens working in non-governmental organizations. “Nobody doubts their patriotism. It is obvious that they will not surrender the interests of Abkhazia at international platforms. We will only support international organizations if they support humanitarian projects, civil society development projects. But if some organizations want to engage in politics through such structures, the law will apply to them. I'm sure our citizens defend the interests of our state. This closed the topic, ” Logua said.