There is one irritant in relations between Georgia and all her neighbours, the conviction of foreigners for illegal (from the Georgian viewpoint) crossing of the border with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Georgia has not controlled the border of the countries with Russia for almost 20 years, but since Tbilisi regards Abkhazia and South Ossetia as parts of Georgia they are judged according to the article of the Georgian Criminal Code "Illegal border crossing" which sets out imprisonment for 2-4 years. One, entering Abkhazia and South Ossetia through the Psou and Nizhny Zaramag checkpoints, often doesn't know that the stamp in his passport is a reason for prosecution, if he shows the same passport at the border with Georgia. According to
Georgian laws, a foreign citizen can enter the territory of Abkhazia and South Ossetia only from the Georgian side, which is almost impossible, because Abkhaz and Ossetian custom officers won't let one pass through from that direction. And the Psou and Nizhny Zaramag checkpoints on the Russian-Georgian border have been officially closed by the Georgian president since the 1990s. According to the decree the only legal checkpoint is Kazbegi, on the Georgian Military Road.
Russian citizens aware of the situation have two passports: for entering Abkhazia and South Ossetia and for Georgia. Yet even though diplomatic troubles occur, Tbilisi is not intending to change the laws. "This is no surprise. The law prohibiting entrance to Abkhazia and South Ossetia from the Russian territory has been in force for 20 years", the chief of the police information department Shota Utiashvili told VK. "We usually fine the trespassers, in 99% of cases.
There is a very small amount of imprisonments", he added. It seems he is talking about those who haven't paid the from $2,000 to $10,000 fine. Utiashvili claimed that there is no selectivity towards Russian and Armenian citizens, because Europeans don't visit Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Russians, Armenians, Azerbaijani and Ukrainians violate the law crossing the border. Because the scandals concerning entrances through "illegal" checkpoints occur often, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia and other countries that didn't recognized Abkhazia and South
Ossetia come in conflict with Moscow when they try to warn their citizens. For example, when the Belarusian Foreign Ministry warned its citizens to "meet the requirements of the Georgian laws when visiting Abkhazia and South Ossetia", what means to enter the countries from
the Georgian side, Moscow, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali interpreted that as another supporting act in favour of Georgia.
Georgy Kalatozishvili. Especially for VK
