EU Ambassador: reports of Moscow’s alleged plans for base in occupied Abkhazia “extremely worrying”
The Georgian foreign office on Thursday said it was “concerned” by Moscow’s plans to deploy the base. Photo: EU Delegation to Georgia
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Paweł Herczyński, the Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, on Friday said media reports about alleged plans for a Russian naval military base in Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia were “extremely worrying”.
Aslan Bzhania, the de facto President of the Abkhazia region, on Thursday told the Russian media he had signed a “new agreement” with the Kremlin over the deployment of the permanent naval base in the city of Ochamchire in the “near future”.
We [the European Union] support the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia. The report of another possible Russian base in the separatist and occupied region of Abkhazia is certainly extremely worrying”, Herczyński said.
“This would be a clear violation of Russia's commitment under the 2008 six-point plan that we, the European Union, negotiated. So, obviously, this is a very unwelcome and disturbing development”, the EU diplomat noted.
The Georgian foreign office on Thursday said it was “concerned” by Moscow’s plans to deploy the base.
The Ministry called on Russia to act “in accordance with international obligations” and the ceasefire agreement signed with Tbilisi following the 2008 conflict between the countries and withdraw its troops from the Georgian occupied regions.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday called Russia’s plans a “continuation” of the occupation.
Garibashvili told the media he had told an “important” roundtable format discussion on the sidelines of the ongoing European Political Community Summit in Granada Moscow’s reported plans were seen by the Georgian side as an “illegal decision”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday called Russia’s plans to deploy a permanent naval military base in the Russian-occupied north-western Abkhazia region’s city of Ochamchire - a continuation of the occupation.
The Georgian foreign office on Thursday said it was “concerned” by Moscow’s plans to deploy a permanent naval military base in the Russian-occupied north-western Abkhazia region’s city of Ochamchire.
Gia Volski, the Georgian Parliament’s Vice Speaker, on Thursday said there was “no formal deal” between Russia and Georgia’s Russian-occupied north-western region of Abkhazia following claims by the de facto President of the region of a “new agreement” with Moscow about the deployment of a Russian naval base in the coastal city of Ochamchire.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the Georgian Government was “successfully implementing” the policy of non-recognition of the country’s Russian-occupied territories by foreign countries, and noted “no statement can prevent us from doing so”.
Peter Stano, the European Union Spokesperson for External Affairs, on Friday said the bloc expressed “strong concern” about Russia’s reported plans to establish a naval military base in Georgia’s Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Friday said Russia’s “illegal move” to establish a permanent naval military base in the Russian-occupied north-western Abkhazia region’s city of Ochamchire was a “direct threat” to Georgia, its European aspirations, as well as to the Black Sea security.
Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday said it was "important" for the international community and the country’s Western partners to condemn Russia’s reported plans to establish a naval military base in the city of Ochamchire in Georgia’s occupied region of Abkhazia.
Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze on Tuesday told the country’s Parliament Georgia’s security “significantly depended” on the effectiveness of its deterrence and defence policies.