The European Union expresses its deep concern with respect to the recent detentions of Georgian citizens, especially the detention of four minors at the administrative boundary line to South Ossetia, Georgia, on 4 November and urges for a rapid release of all detained persons.
The European Union underlines the need to take into account the specific rights of underage detainees in accordance with international standards, in particular the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The European Union urges all sides to address incidents of this kind within existing mechanisms, in particular to make full use of the good offices offered by the European Union Monitoring Mission and of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism. In this context the European Union underlines its support of the Geneva talks and calls for constructive and sustained engagement from all sides.
The European Union calls on all parties to use their influence to prevent incidents of this kind from taking place and reiterates its full respect for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.
