Parliament’s “extreme concern” for Ukraine

Georgian Parliament has banded together and issued a statement expressing its "extreme concern” over the continuing crisis in Ukraine.

All 118 Members of Parliament present at the session voted and agreed on a statement affirming the use of force against peaceful citizens resulting in human death and severe health injuries was unacceptable.

"We express sorrow and offer our condolences to the Ukrainian people. Parliament condemns any form of violence and escalation of the situation, which may lead the country to a large-scale civil confrontation."

The statement said the Georgian Parliament agreed with earlier messages from the European Union and the United States, and believed using force and escalating tensions would not bring the country out of the political crisis.

"Parliament of Georgia calls on both sides to find a solution only through dialogue. We declare that in this process the main responsibility lies with the Ukrainian authorities, which should spare no efforts to engage in dialogue with the opposition and civil society sector in order to overcome the crisis and to defuse the situation.”

"Parliament of Georgia expresses full solidarity to the Ukrainian people’s aspiration to become a fully-fledged member of the European family, founded on freedom, rule of law and human rights, and we are confident that Russia will not be able to change either Ukraine’s or Georgia’s European choice through forcing them not to sign the Association Agreement.”

This is the second second statement issued by Parliament on developments in Ukraine in the past two months. The first one was released on December 11, last year.

The current violent clashes escalated after weeks of largely peaceful public protests in reaction to a decision by Ukraine President Victor Yanukovych in November to reject a planned trade deal with the European Union and turn toward Russia instead.