CoE issues decision on Russia-Georgia conflict, supports Georgia’s territorial integrity

The Council of Europe meeting of the Ministers' Deputies on Tuesday adopted its decision on 'the Council of Europe and the conflict in Georgia', supporting Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, “clearly calling on” Russia to fulfil its international obligations and completely withdraw its forces from the country’s territory.

The CoE document urges Russia to ensure the protection of human rights and basic freedoms in Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions, the Foreign Ministry said.

In the decision, the 46 member states welcomed the results of CoE’s “historic summit” in Reykjavik this year, where the Council called on Russia to completely withdraw its troops from the territory of Georgia.

The judgments of international courts, including the decision of the European Court of Human Rights of January 2021, where Georgia won the 2008 war case against Russia, and the International Court of Human Rights judgement, which ordered the Russian Government to pay up to €130 million for the benefit of 24,000 Georgian citizens affected during the war, were also highlighted in the document.

The CoE also condemned the humanitarian and human rights situation in the occupied territories of Georgia.