Estonian president calls border of Georgia - South Ossetia "evil divide"

The President of Estonia, Kersti Kaljulaid, visited the Georgian villages of Tserovani and Khurvaleti on the border with South Ossetia accompanied by her Georgian colleague Giorgi Margvelashvili on the final day of her visit to Georgia. After communicating with local residents, she called the border “the evil divide”.

“I can resort to all currently used diplomatic terms in order to declare the importance of restoring the territorial integrity of Georgia. Moreover, we are disappointed by the lack of results after 42 rounds of Geneva international discussions, we suggest that more attention be paid to this conflict and, of course, we will continue to actively pursue these issues... Whichever euphemism is used, the existence of the dividing line remains a fact,” she said.

According to Georgian media, the Estonian president noted that because of the existence of barbed wire fencing, local residents cannot visit their relatives and medical services are unavailable for them.

"... Today we live in this situation, we are building a European Georgia under these circumstances and these absolutely disgusting barriers are sure to fall, just as other artificial barriers have fallen in Europe. They will be destroyed not by military force, but through that firm economic course that our country pursues, thanks to the open heart and the hope for the future of our people who live both in the occupied territories and in the country controlled by us. This is the future of our country and we thank you for supporting and sharing this position, and thus helping Georgia on this path", Giorgi Margvelashvili said.

The Estonian president arrived in Georgia on a three-day state visit on October 31. Earlier in Tbilisi, Kaljulaid met with the Georgian president, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze, and representatives of non-governmental organizations, and also participated in the Georgian-Estonian business forum. The Estonian delegation included the minister of economy and infrastructure, the minister of culture, the chairman of the committee on foreign affairs of the Estonian parliament, and the commander of the Estonian Defense Forces.