UK backs restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty on 11th anniversary of 2008 Russia-Georgia war
The UK Ambassador to Georgia Justin McKenzie Smith released a statement on his official Twitter account both in English and Georgian. Photo: British Embassy to Georgia
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Eleven years after the Russia-Georgia war the United Kingdom remains committed “to the restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and a peaceful future for all”.
The UK Ambassador to Georgia Justin McKenzie Smith released a statement on his official Twitter account both in English and Georgian.
These children live next to #Russia|n barbed wire dividing their communities. But when they talk about their future, those fences disappear.
— Justin McKenzieSmith (@JustinMcKenzieS) August 7, 2019
11 years after Russia-Georgia war, #UK backs restoration of #Georgia’s territorial integrity & sovereignty and peaceful future for all. pic.twitter.com/hm2HLdxLkX
August 8, 2008 is the most tragic day in the recent history of Georgia when the five-day war between Russia and Georgia claimed the lives of 412 people, including 170 military servicemen, 14 policemen and 228 civilians.
Photo: British Embassy to Georgia
ეს ბავშვები რუსული მავთულხლართების გვერდით ცხოვრობენ, რომლებმაც ადგილობრივი მოსახლეობა ორად დაყო. თუმცა როდესაც ისინი მომავალზე საუბრობენ, მავთულხლართები ქრება.
— Justin McKenzieSmith (@JustinMcKenzieS) August 7, 2019
რუსეთ-საქართველოს ომიდან 11 წლის თავზე, ბრიტანეთი მხარს უჭერს საქ. ტერიტორიულ მთლიანობას, სუვერენიტეტსა და მშვიდობას. pic.twitter.com/QIVPBadtCK
35,000 houses were burned, ruined and destroyed. 130, 000 people remained in displacement, out of which 26,000 are still denied the right of return. Overall, the number of IDPs from both occupied regions is now close to half a million.
The United States Acting Ambassador to Georgia Elisabeth Rood visited the settlement of Tserovani nearby the capital of Tbilisi, where internally displaced people (IDPs) have been living since the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. “In the 11 years since the Russian invasion of Georgia, each of these houses has come to tell a story of loss – the loss of families, friends, homes, and loved ones”, she said
The Delegation of the European Union to Georgia has condemned the ongoing occupation of two of Georgia's regions by the Russian military on the anniversary of the 2008 war between the two countries.
Eleven years have passed since the most tragic day in the recent history of Georgia – the beginning of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008. Today the Georgian Foreign Ministry issued a statement regarding the date, saying that 11 years on from the war, Russia still continues its occupation and practical annexation of two Georgian regions, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia).
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, President Salome Zurabishvili and other state officials paid tribute today to the victims of the five-day war between Russia and Georgia of 2008. PM Bakhtadze said at the Mukhadgverdi cemetery that the Russian occupation of Georgia is “the pain that should unite us all” despite the differences in political views.
Georgian national flags are flying at half-mast today on all government buildings across the country to commemorate the eleventh anniversary of the most tragic day in the recent history of the country – the five-day war between Russia and Georgia in 2008.
Diplomats and government officials from Europe took to Twitter this week to voice their support for Georgia's territorial integrity and condemn the ongoing Russian occupation of the country's regions on the 11th anniversary of the 2008 war.
Georgian diplomatic missions abroad have lowered flags to half-mast on the 11th anniversary of the Russia-Georgia War. The flags have been at half-mast for two days (August 7-8). Georgian national flags are also flying at half-mast today on all government buildings across the country.
The permanent representatives of Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and the United States to the United Nations released a joint statement on the eleventh anniversary of 2008 Russia-Georgia war.
US foreign policy expert Kurt Volker, who recently served as the US Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations, has responded to media speculations regarding his interview for Evropeiska Pravda, stating that former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s rhetoric was not the only reason why Putin attacked Georgia in 2008.