The spokesperson of Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission, issued the following statement today:
"The High Representative notes with profound concern the continued and increasing activities by Russian security forces to erect fences and other obstacles along administrative boundary lines in Georgia between the territory administered by the government in Tbilisi and the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Such activities - which contravene Georgias territorial integrity - create significant hardship for residents on either side of the administrative boundary lines and seriously challenge stability and security in these regions.
The High Representative calls on the Russian Federation to ensure that these barriers are removed. She recalls the European Unions support for Georgias territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.
The EUs Political and Security Committee traveled to Georgia on 30 September 2013 and paid a visit to the administrative boundary line of South Ossetia, and to the EU Monitoring Mission."