Georgia does not recognise legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro as President of Venezuela

Georgia shares the position of the international community and says that the country does not recognize the legitimacy of Nicolas Maduro as the president of Venezuela.

Maduro’s re-election in May 2018 was widely criticised by foreign nations and organisations, with numerous reports and statements regarding coercion, electoral rigging and fraud.

Maduro is set to be inaugurated today for the second time, extending his term in office to 2025.

The elections in Venezuela were conducted in an unequal, unfair and non-democratic environment,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry says.

Georgia has many times expressed a critical position regarding the violation of election and other rights of the Venezuelan people. Georgia joins the international community and condemns actions which aim to further complicate humanitarian crisis and encourage violence,” the Foreign Ministry says.

  The Foreign Ministry also condemned the statements of the de facto governments of Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regarding the participation in the so-called inauguration ceremony, as Venezuela is among the five countries which has recognised the so-called independence of the Georgian occupied regions since the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.

Participation of the de facto leaderships of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) in the so-called inauguration ceremony aims to achieve the legitimation of the current occupation of the regions and ethnic cleansing there, and to display the regions as independent republics,” the Foreign Ministry says.

The ministry reports that achieving the goal is “impossible” as the international community is unanimous regarding Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.