EU Integration Minister slams vote in South Ossetia:
“Referendum for Tskhinvali to join Russia has no legal power”
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Georgia’s top official on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration strongly condemns a planned referendum in Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region about the de facto area joining Russia.
This afternoon Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration David Bakradze said the referenfum, planned to be held before August, was illegitimate, a gross violation of international laws and it would have no legal standing in the international community.
This would be an action carried out through violation of all international legal norms and consequently it will have no legal power,” Bakradze said.
Georgia’s Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration David Bakradze says this type of referendum violates all international rules and regulations. Photo by the Ministry for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
The Minister’s comments were made in response to recent claims of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) de facto president Leonid Tibilov, who told Russian media the referendum about the region joining Russia would be held "in the near future, before August.
Almost all of the international community believed Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and Abkhazia – two occupied regions of Georgia – are integral parts of Georgia.
Russia and Nicaragua recognised the breakaway regions as independent republics in 2008 in the wake of the Russia-Georgia war. In 2009 Venezuela, Nauru and Tuvalu took the same step but after several years Vanuatu retracted its view.
Official Tbilisi is calling on the international community to adequately assess and respond to Russia’s ongoing defiance against Georgia and its territorial integrity and sovereignty.
The de facto leaders of Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region and the Russian Federation will sign a so-called "Treaty on Alliance and Integration” today. The global community is assessing this as "yet another step that goes against ongoing efforts to strengthen security and stability in the region”.
Georgia is blaming Russia for its "deliberate affront” to the international community and the peace process.
Georgia strongly condemns the recent ratification of an agreement between Russia and Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region to establish and mark the state border around the occupied territory.
An official representatives of the United States (US) Department of State has made it very clear America will never respect or recognise any attempy by Georgia’s eastern de facto Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region to conduct a referendum about joining Russia.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili is calling on the global community to "properly assess” Russia’s "illegal actions” on the Georgian territory and take relevant measures.
Georgia’s Patriarchate is calling on the government to find ways to let UNESCO experts monitor cultural sites and monuments in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions.