On 28 June 2017, the 47th meeting of the joint Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was held in Gali town under the chairmanship of the United Nations. Georgian, Russian, Abkhaz and EUMM (European Union Monitoring Mission) representatives took part in the meeting. The meeting was useful and business-like.
The overall security situation on the ground since the previous IPRM meeting was assessed as relatively calm and stable. Attention was drawn to the importance of cooperation between all participants in order to prevent incidents.
The participants continued discussions with a view to achieving justice on the 19 May 2016 killing case of a Georgian civilian at one of the former crossing points.
The participants exchanged latest information on the case of two Georgian men detained since the beginning of April 2017 for the alleged crossing of the line of control at an “unauthorized location”. The appeal was reiterated to relevant participants to consider the case from a humanitarian angle.
The participants stressed the importance of hotline as an effective tool to exchange information on a timely basis. They were encouraged to make use of hotline effectively and reasonably in order, first and foremost, to prevent incidents.
It was agreed to hold the next meeting on 26 July 2017.