Georgian border guards at the border post 'Verkhny Lars' did not allow
a Russian couple to enter Georgia, despite their international
passports and Schengen visas, RIA Novosti reports. They gave no
reason.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili signed a decree on October 11,
2010, allowing Russian citizens living or registered in North Caucasus
(Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria,
Karachay-Cherkessia and Adygeya) to enter Georgia without visas from
October 13. Russian authorized presidential envoy to the North
Caucasian Federal District (NCFD) Alexander Khloponin said the move
was part of a plan to destabilize the situation in the North Caucasus.
'Verkhny Lars' is located in the North Ossetian part of the
Russian-Georgian border.
The family head Ali Hazbulatov said that he had no problems on the
Russian side of the border. He told that he decided to visit their
friends in Kazbegi (Georgia), whom they haven't seen for over 20
years. They were asked to give the home address and telephone numbers
of their friends. They provided the names of their friends but failed
to give the telephone numbers.
The head of the press-service of the office of the Federal Security
Service (FSB) at the border post Alexander Solod said that there were
no problems with the documents. There have already been 5 such cases.
Georgia's Kazbeg Region borders with Russia. It takes some 15 minutes
to reach Vladikavkaz from Kazbegi. It takes several hours to travel to
Tbilisi from Kazbegi.
Citizens from Kazbegi went to Vladikavkaz for purchases and medicine
until the visa regime was introduced. Many citizens of North Ossetia
left houses and relatives in Kazbegi District after the events in
1991. They demanded a special regime to travel through the 'Verkhny
Lars' post.
