PACE monitors call ‘elections’ in occupied Tskhinvali ‘neither legal nor legitimate’
So-called parliamentary elections were conducted in Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) on June 9. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring of Georgia, Titus Corlatean and Claude Kern, say that the June 9 so-called parliamentary elections in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region were “neither legitimate nor legal.”
We reiterate our full support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia within its internationally-recognised borders. The so-called parliamentary elections in the Georgian region of South Ossetia that took place last Sunday are therefore neither legal nor legitimate,” reads a statement.
Corlatean and Kern say that the “elections” hinder the peaceful settlement of the conflict and instead of uniting people they only drive them further apart.
We can only condemn that,” they say.
So-called parliamentary elections in the Georgian region of #SouthOssetia last Sunday were "neither legal nor legitimate", say PACE Georgia monitors Titus Corlăţean & @claude_kern: “We reiterate our full support for the territorial integrity of #Georgia" https://t.co/vrQ6HTIpZw pic.twitter.com/CqabbCncpP
— PACE (@PACE_News) June 12, 2019
The United States and several other counties have also condemned the so-called elections.
The de facto leadership of Tskhinvali closed the so-called border with Georgia because of the “elections” on June 9 and re-opened it yesterday.
Tskhinvali reported that 31,000 voters were registered for the “elections” and polling stations were also opened in Abkhazia and Russia.
The party of the de facto President of Tskhinvali Anatoly Bibilov, United Ossetia, won the so-called elections.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry has stated that the so-called parliamentary elections “blatantly violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders.”
- Russia recognised the two Georgian regions of Tskhinvali and Abkhazia as independent states after a military armed conflict with Georgia in 2008.
- As of today, only Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru and Syria recognise the two regions as independent.
The US does not recognise the legitimacy of the so-called parliamentary elections held in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, conducted on June 9.
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine “strongly condemns the holding and does not recognise the results" of so-called parliamentary elections in Georgia’s Russian occupied region of Tskhinvali.
Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia do not recognise “parliamentary elections” in one of Georgia’s Russian occupied regions of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). The foreign ministries of the three Baltic states also reaffirmed their support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced today’s “parliamentary elections” in occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia), which “blatantly violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders”.
The European Union does not recognise recent “parliamentary elections” in one of Georgia’s Russian occupied regions of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). Spokesperson Maja Kocijančič reiterated the EU’s position that it supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia as recognised by international law.