Danish Foreign Minister: planned referendum in Georgia’s occupied Tskhinvali region on joining Russia "unacceptable"
Kofod stressed the Russian occupation of Georgian territories was not only a matter of “political assessment”, but also a “legally established” fact. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Jeppe Kofod, the Danish Foreign Minister, has condemned a referendum planned in Georgia's Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on the province joining the Russian Federation as “unacceptable”.
When hundreds of thousands of Georgian citizens have been expelled as a result of the ethnic cleansing during conflicts in the region and are still unable to return to their homes, no referendum will have a legal result, the Danish Foreign Minister said at a joint briefing with David Zalkaliani, his Georgian counterpart, in Tbilisi.
Kofod stressed the Russian occupation of Georgian territories was not only a matter of “political assessment”, but also a “legally established” fact.
"The European Court of Human Rights made not only a political but also a legal assessment of the occupation of Georgian territories," said Jeppe Kofod.
The Danish official noted Georgia was pursuing a peaceful policy to restore its territorial integrity with “strong support” from its partners, and would "not allow provocations" and the recurrence of the “dire” consequences of the 2008 war with Russia.
Speaking at a joint briefing with Zalkaliani, Kofod also observed the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, and expressed gratitude to Georgia for supporting Ukraine in international forums.
The “truth” about the 2008 Russia-Georgia war has been confirmed in international courts through Georgia winning legal battles against Russia, Archil Talakvadze, the Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker, said in reaction to the European Court of Human Rights decision on inadmissibility of complaints by residents living in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia) on Thursday.
The European Court of Human Rights has declared inadmissible 370 individual complaints filed against Georgia by residents of the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region in connection to the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, Rati Bregadze, the Georgian Justice Minister, said at a briefing on Thursday.
Holding the so-called parliamentary elections in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region is a “futile attempt” to legitimise the illegal occupation of the Georgian territories, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
The International Criminal Court in Hague has issued arrest warrants against three de facto officials of Georgia's Russian-occupied breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region in a case of torture and ill-treatment of Georgian civilians during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, the Georgian Justice Ministry announced earlier today.
Russia's aggression has “failed to stop” Georgia from moving towards Europe, and the newly created “window of opportunity” is the European Union's “rightful response” to this aggression, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said on Thursday in a meeting with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod.
No referendum in the Russian-occupied territories has legitimacy, the Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili said on Thursday in response to the information on the de facto authorities in the Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region planning to hold a referendum on joining the Russian Federation.
Georgian-Danish bilateral relations and the impact of the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine on the security situation in the Eastern European region were discussed on Thursday in a meeting between Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili and Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani discussed cooperation prospects with Kazakh counterpart Mukhtar Tleuberdi on Thursday.
During a telephone conversation, the ministers talked about the bilateral relations between Georgia and Kazakhstan and the ways to strengthen bonds, especially in transportation and communication fields.
The United States will not recognise the results of any effort by “Russia or its proxies” to “divide sovereign Georgian territory”, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Thursday, following information on plans by Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to hold a referendum on joining Russia.
A delegation from Denmark, headed by Jeppe Kofod, the country's Foreign Minister, visited parts of the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) with Georgia’s Russian-occupied breakaway Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region on Friday.
The actions of Anatoly Bibilov, the de facto president of the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region of Georgia, and his group have “no international legal significance”, Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chairman of the Committee on Human Rights of the Georgian Parliament, said on Friday in response to the information on the de facto authorities in the occupied region planning to hold a referendum on joining the Russian Federation.