OSCE Parliamentary Assembly calls on Russia to end occupation of Georgian territories
The Assembly expressed “deep regret” over the unresolved conflict between Russia and Georgia since 2008, and underlined the necessity of “full implementation” by Russia of the 2008 EU-mediated Ceasefire Agreement.Photo:osce.org.
Tweet 
Share
The annual session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe on Wednesday called on Russia to end its occupation of Georgia’s Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions and engage constructively in the Geneva International Discussions.
The Assembly expressed “deep regret” over the unresolved conflict between Russia and Georgia since 2008, and underlined the necessity of “full implementation” by Russia of the 2008 EU-mediated Ceasefire Agreement.
The document adopted by the Assembly condemned the “humanitarian and human rights situation” deteriorated in the Russian-occupied regions as a result of the “violations of fundamental freedoms and human rights” of people living there.
The Assembly also highlighted various forms of discrimination against ethnic Georgians, and the “obliteration and alteration” of Georgian features from Georgian cultural heritage monuments in both Russian-occupied regions, as a direct consequence of Russia’s ongoing occupation and “Russification” policy.
Security challenges in the Black Sea region caused by the ongoing hostilities in Ukraine were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili and Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Zbigniew Rau.
Zbigniew Rau, the Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and Poland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, has extended his gratitude to Georgian authorities and citizens for their support for Ukraine, noting the OSCE commended the country’s “unconditional” support for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe Group of Friends of Georgia on Friday delivered a statement reaffirming their “full support” for the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders.
Speaker of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday said that it was “simply naive or malicious” to downplay a threat of war in Georgia, noting the country had experienced three wars involving Russia.
Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Georgian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee Chair, was elected as the Chair of the Democracy and Human Rights Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Tuesday.
An Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe resolution on security environment and stability in the OSCE region has called on Russia to de-occupy Georgia’s Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions, after the section was added to the document on the initiative of the Georgian Parliament’s OSCE Parliamentary Assembly delegation Head.