MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The arrival of the next team of Russian servicemen to reinforce military bases in Georgia has been delayed once again, a spokesman for the headquarters of the Russian military force in Transcaucasia said on Tuesday.
"The Georgian party once again delays the issuing of visas to Russian servicemen without intelligible explanation. As a result, the arrival of the second reinforcement batch of 50 privates and soldiers to military bases in Georgia is delayed for an indefinite period," the spokesman told Interfax-Military News Agency by phone from Tbilisi.
The 50 officers who arrived in Georgia last weekend have been distributed among the bases and have left for their service sites in Batumi (the 12th base) and Akhalkalaki (the 62nd base).
"I have to stress that the Georgian party's visa policy in regards to Russian servicemen creates serious problems in functioning of the bases. They suffer from lack of personnel, which may result in failure to meet the deadlines for preparing the bases for pullout from Georgia," the spokesman said.
A source in the headquarters of the Russian military force told Interfax-AVN on Monday that the second reinforcement team consisting of 50 privates and sergeants is to arrive in Tbilisi in a few days. He stressed that "at least 500 officers and enlisted men are needed to replace officers and reinforce units so that their strength would be brought up to the regular level." However, privates and soldiers sent to Russian military bases in Georgia have had to wait for the visas at the 102nd Russian military base in Gyumri in neighboring Armenia since spring 2005.