TBILISI, December 12 (RIA Novosti, Marina Kvaratskhelia) - Georgia intends to raise border control issues with Russia at the sixth World Trade Organization, a source in the Georgian economic ministry said Monday.
Economic Development Minister Irakly Chogovadze will use his speech at the Hong Kong meeting, which runs from December 13 through 18, to highlight customs control problems at the sectors of the Georgian state border outside its jurisdiction, namely with the self-proclaimed republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The minister will demand that Russia admit Georgian border guards and customs officers into those sections of the Georgian state border. If Russia meets this demand, Georgia will not object to Russia's accession to the WTO, the source said.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia are formally within Georgia but proclaimed independence in the early 1990s, which led to bloody clashes. The Georgian authorities have accused the two areas of smuggling various goods, including weapons, across the border.
