Georgian FM at OSCE Ministerial Council: My country divided into free and occupied parts by barbed wire fences
In his address to the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava, FM David Zalkaliani said the state of security and human rights in the occupied regions of Georgia and adjacent areas is dramatically worsening. Photo: Georgian Foreign Ministry/Facebook
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Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani spoke of the security and humanitarian situation in the two Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) at the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava today.
It has been eleven years that we have been dealing with the consequences of Russia's full-scale military aggression against Georgia”, Zalkaliani addressed the audience.
The state of security and human rights in the occupied regions of Georgia and adjacent areas is dramatically worsening”, he added.
Watch the full address of the Georgian Foreign Minister released by the OSCE:
FM Zalkaliani also noted that instead of withdrawing its military forces from the occupied regions in line with its commitments to the European Union-mediated ceasefire agreement of 2008, “the occupying power continues intensive militarisation, further destabilising the situation on the ground”.
Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall my country is still divided into free and occupied parts by the razor and barbwire fences”, Zalkaliani said.
People are restricted from free movement and deprived of access to their houses, farmlands, religious sites, cemeteries or water supply”, he noted.
In his address to his counterparts from the OSCE member states, David Zalkaliani underscored that the occupation forces “continue to kidnap local population, including women, children, even medical doctors".
He said the recent case of illegal detention of Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili has been “a testament to the grave humanitarian impact of illegal occupation”.
It’s been 11yrs we’ve been dealing with t/consequences of Russia’s military aggression. Security & Human Rights situation in occupied regions of Georgia is worsening. Recent case of illegal detention of Dr.Gaprindashvili attests to grave humanitarian impact of illegal occupation pic.twitter.com/W7SsXHdNa1
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) December 5, 2019
FM Zalkaliani noted in his address as well that, nevertheless, Georgia "has never turned away from its policy of peaceful resolution of conflict".
However, he said conflicts in the GUAM (a regional organisation of Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova and Azerbaijan) area pose serious threat to international peace and security.
OSCE Foreign Ministers and Heads of Delegations pose for a family photo at the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council. Photo: OSCE/Facebook
Therefore, Zalkaliani said, the conflicts here must be resolved "based on respect for territorial integrity of states within the internationally recognised borders".
He also took the opportunity to reaffirm that Georgia will never recognise Russia's "illegal annexation" of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and "temporary occupation of parts of Eastern Ukraine.
The Chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak has stated in Tbilisi that Slovakia, which took over the chairmanship of the OSCE this year, is firm in its support of Georgia’s efforts to deal with domestic and foreign challenges.
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, three Eastern Partnership countries, have signed a joint statement on the creation of a format of the EU plus the three countries for sectoral integration in transport, energy and other fields and to have full access to four liberties of the EU - free movement of goods, services, capital and the labour force. The statement, which has been signed earlier today on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava, has been handed to a High Representative of the EU.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani met with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York today. The meeting, which is the first since Georgia suspended its diplomatic ties with Russia following the Russia-Georgia war in 2008, was "initiated and facilitated" by Switzerland.
The OSCE Permanent Council has made a statement on recent developments in the occupied regions of Georgia on behalf of 15 countries. The United States Mission to OSCE, which "fully subscribes to the joint statement made by the Group of Friends of Georgia", released a separate statement as well in its "national capacity".
The group of friends of Georgia in the OSCE has delivered a joint statement to reaffirm their “firm support” for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, condemn the Russian aggression and demand the release of a well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili who has been in illegal detention in Georgia’s Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region for about a month.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani met with the Chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak in Bratislava, Slovakia on the sidelines of the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council yesterday.