Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, expressed “regret” over the planned closure of two crossing points along the Administrative Boundary Line of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The de-facto Abkhaz government decided to close two out of four crossing points along the administrative boundary line (ABL) - Nabakevi-Khurcha and Meore Otobaia-Orsantia - between Abkhazia’s predominantly ethnic Georgian Gali district and its adjoining Zugdidi district of Samegrelo region at its session on December 28.

Responding to questions on February 27, Stéphane Dujarric stated that the announced plans to close the two additional crossing points “will be detrimental to the freedom of movement and overall well-being of the population, including school children, on both sides of the administrative boundary line, especially those living in the Gali District.”

“We join other international partners in calling for the continued functioning of the existing crossing points to ensure the freedom of movement, including humanitarian crossings,” Stéphane Dujarric added.

“We underline previous calls for all the participants in the Geneva International Discussions to engage constructively in making tangible progress and to refrain from any unilateral actions that may adversely impact regional peace and security and undermine the work of those Discussions,” he also stated.

The planned crossing points closure has raised concerns internationally before as well.