Lithuanian Foreign Ministry: Any referendum by Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region to join Russia “illegal and void”
The Lithuanian foreign office called on the international community to “actively” support Georgia's sovereignty and security on the backdrop of the Russian occupation of two of the country's regions. Photo: Reuters
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Any referendum by Georgia's Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region to unify with Russia will be illegal and void, the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry said on Friday in a statement.
The Lithuanian foreign office called on the international community to “actively” support Georgia's sovereignty and security on the backdrop of the Russian occupation of two of the country's regions.
Lithuania firmly supports Georgia’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders. Any referendum by the occupied Tskhinvali region to unify with Russia will be illegal and void. We call on the international community to actively support Georgia’s sovereignty and security,” the statement said.
#Lithuania firmly supports #Georgia’s territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. Any referendum by the occupied Tskhinvali region to unify with #Russia will be illegal & void. We call on the int’l community to actively support ???????? sovereignty & security.
— Lithuania MFA | #StandWithUkraine (@LithuaniaMFA) April 1, 2022
The United States Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price on Thursday said the US would not recognise the results of any effort by “Russia or its proxies” to “divide sovereign Georgian territory.”
The Georgian Government’s “long-term peace policy” will become the “basis for de-occupation” of the Russian-occupied regions of Georgia, Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party, said 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.
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.
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.
Moldova does not recognise the validity of the so-called “elections” set to take place in the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region of Georgia on Sunday, the Moldovan foreign office said on Friday.
The illegitimate presidential elections in Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), and a referendum for the region to join the Russian Federation, were on Friday called a “sham” by United States Senator Chris Coons.