The European Union Monitoring Mission has issued a statement on patrols in the village of Atotsi in response to information circulated on media and social networks.

“The EUMM did carry out a regular, scheduled patrol near the village of Atotsi in the early hours of 30 October. The EUMM is monitoring the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) to South Ossetia intensively both day and night and the presence of EUMM monitors was not a response to any specific incident as alleged by some sources. Rather it was scheduled in advance according to the Mission’s patrolling plans.

The EUMM is closely monitoring and reporting on incremental ‘borderisation’ activities in the vicinity of Atotsi. During the past days the Mission has observed new fencing being installed, creating additional barriers to the freedom of movement for the conflict affected population. The EUMM has not observed any notable difference in posture or patrolling patterns of security actors from South Ossetia on the ground compared to the recent past. The Mission assesses the security situation on that particular stretch of the ABL to be relatively stable presently”, - reads in the statement.