EU Ambassador: we don’t recognise so-called parliamentary elections in Abkhazia
Hartzell said the EU would continue pursuing its non-recognition policy in regards with Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. Photo: EU Delegation to Georgia
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Carl Hartzell, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, said the EU did not recognise the legal framework of the so-called parliamentary elections that took place in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region on March 12.
Hartzell reiterated his support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding the EU would continue pursuing its non-recognition policy in regards with Georgia’s breakaway regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
The EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia remains fully mobilised in this regard,” he noted.
Remarks by Ambassador @CarlHartzellEU on the so-called parliamentary elections in the Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia: https://t.co/auKD2OlyFZ pic.twitter.com/2yVEVnfCQK
— EU Delegation Georgia ???????? (@EUinGeorgia) March 12, 2022
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said the so-called parliamentary elections in Abkhazia were a “futile attempt” to legitimise the illegal occupation of the country’s territories, calling on Russia to withdraw its 2008 recognition of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent states.
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.
Italian political party Forza Italia released a statement on Wednesday in response to its member Matteo Dall'Osso’s initiating a press conference around “self-determination” of the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia, saying the event had been a “strictly personal initiative” of the MP and noting it “reflects neither the position of Italy nor of Forza Italia.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has responded to a request by Inal Ardzinba, the de-facto foreign minister of the Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, for the status of an observer in the United Nations for the region by calling it a “propaganda move doomed to collapse."
Recognition of independence of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia), two Russian-occupied Georgian regions, by Belarus is not on the agenda, Georgian foreign ministry spokesperson Mari Narchemashvili said on Monday, following comments made by President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko.
Norway refuses to recognise the so-called parliamentary elections held in the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia, Helene Sand Andresen, Ambassador of Norway to Georgia and Armenia, said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan said on Monday it does not recognise the so-called parliamentary elections held in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region on Saturday, or the results of the ballot.
NATO does not recognise the legitimacy of the elections held on Saturday in the Russian-occupied Georgian region of Abkhazia, Javier Colomina, The NATO Secretary General Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, said on Monday.
Russia has once again proved its plans for “factual annexation” of the Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia, Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Tuesday.
Reforms in the forestry sector, air and water resources, waste management and trade relations were the topics covered at a meeting between Otar Shamugia, the Georgian Agriculture Minister and Carl Hartzell, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Wednesday.
The de facto authorities of Abkhazia have “once again” undermined the principle of the territorial integrity of Georgia, forcing this region further into isolation to the detriment of the local population, Leendert Verbeek, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) said in response to the so-called “parliamentary elections” held in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region on Saturday.
The Group of Friends of Georgia at the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Friday made a joint statement on not recognising the legitimacy of the so-called “parliamentary elections” held in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region on March 12.
Russia’s war and aggression against Ukraine has already started to affect the Georgian economy, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell said on Wednesday.