Foreign Ministry calls on Russia to respect Georgia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, withdraw forces from occupied regions on war anniversary

The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday released a statement on the 14th anniversary of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, calling on Russia to “cease illegal and provocative steps” against Georgia, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country, fulfil its obligations under the European Union-mediated ceasefire agreement by withdrawing its forces from the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), and reverse its illegal decision on recognising their independence.

The Ministry said that illegal detentions and kidnappings, gross violations of human rights, as well as ethnic discrimination and the violation of the right of hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons and refugees to return to their homes had been a “heavy humanitarian burden” of Russia's illegal occupation.

The statement said that the impunity encouraged in the cases of deprivation of lives of Davit Basharuli, Giga Otkhozoria, and Archil Tatunashvili, who were brutally murdered by occupation forces increased the risk of “further violence” on ethnic grounds and stressed unrestricted access of international human rights bodies and the establishment of international security mechanisms on the ground, as well as access of the EU Monitoring Mission in the occupied regions has been “even more critical”.

The Ministry highlighted the Judgement of the European Court of Human Rights from 21 January 2021 on the 2008 war, which “legally confirmed” the fact of occupation and noted the first legal assessment of Russian-Georgian war revealed the futility of Russia’s long standing effort to avoid legal responsibility for the illegal occupation of Georgian regions.

“Georgia unequivocally continues implementation of the policy of peaceful resolution of the Russia-Georgia conflict and is determined to use the diplomatic and legal instruments and continue close cooperation with its international partners to ensure unification and peaceful development of the country, facilitate confidence building between the communities divided by the occupation line and creation of a common European future”, the Ministry noted.

The Ministry expressed its gratitude towards the international community for the unwavering support to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and said that Georgia “highly appreciated” the contribution of international partners in the process of peaceful resolution of the Russia-Georgia conflict, and appealed to the community to continue “consolidated efforts” for achieving peaceful conflict settlement and de-occupation of Georgian territories.

The Ministry also extended its condolences to the families and relatives of the soldiers and civilians who died heroically in the 2008 war.