CoE: “We want to gain access to Georgia’s occupied regions”
Tweet 
Share
The Council of Europe’s (CoE) highest official says the organisation is preparing its latest report on the conflict in Georgia and it will keep working to gain access to Georgia’s occupied territories.
CoE Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland spoke about Georgia yesterday at the 126th meeting of the Committee of Foreign Ministers of the CoE, which was held in Sofia, Bulgaria on 17-18 May.
Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikheil Janelidze attended the gathering.
Jagland said the decision taken by the CoE’s Committee of Foreign Ministers in early May about the human rights situation in Georgia’s de facto regions Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), and the report prepared by him, included "all the important issues on the agenda of the CoE”.
The CoE top official stressed he would continue working on the conflict issues affecting Georgia.
The Committee of Foreign Ministers of the CoE made a decision regarding the 13th Consolidated Report on the Conflict in Georgia, prepared by the Secretary General of the CoE.
- Their decision referred to the situation regarding human rights protection in Georgia’s occupied territories and focused on Russia's responsibility to ensure the protection of fundamental human rights in Georgia’s two de facto regions Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
- The decision "Council of Europe and the Conflict in Georgia” was adopted on 4 May 2016 at the 1255th meeting of the Committee of Ministers' Deputies of the CoE.
Meanwhile also yesterday at the meeting Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister and chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the CoE Daniel Mitov spoke about the CoE’s activities regarding Georgia.
Mitov put great emphasis on the importance of the May 4, 2016 decision made by the CoE’s Committee of Foreign Ministers to ensure basic human rights were protected in Georgia’s occupied territories.
In his speech Mitov also discussed the Georgia-CoE 2016-2019 Action Plan and expressed hope the document would be implemented successfully by Georgia.
The new Action Plan outlined projects the CoE will carry out in Georgia in 2016-2019 together with Georgian authorities to enhance the protection of human rights, democracy and rule of law.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Thorborn Jagland has told Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili that the issue of Georgia’s occupied regions was on the agenda of the international organisation.
Georgia’s top official is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its independence with the country’s European allies in France.
Secretary General of the Council of Europe will take part in an official visit to Georgia on February 6.
The European Union (EU) believes the proposed 'Alliance and Integration' draft treaty between Russia and Georgia's breakaway region, the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia, undermines the security and stability of the region.
Substantial progress has been achieved in the field of local and regional democracy in Georgia over the past 15 years, a report on local and regional democracy in Georgia adopted by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe reads.
The EU has expressed its deep concern about the the continuous deterioration of the human rights situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in a statement on the Secretary General’s 18th consolidated report which touched on the conflict in Georgia.
Georgia will take over the chairmanship of Council of Europe’s (CoE) Committee of Ministers for a six-month term from November 2019 to May 2020. The chairmanship will be passed from France to Georgia at a meeting in mid-November 2019 at the CoE’s Strasbourg headquarters, attended by representatives of its 47 member states.