Parliament Committee Chair criticises amendments on Georgia in OSCE resolution

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Wednesday criticised amendments related to Georgia in a resolution adopted at an ongoing session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe this week.

The ruling Georgian Dream party on Tuesday denounced the wording in the resolution of a clause regarding the Russian-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions of the country, after it mentioned the regions as parties in the conflict instead of Russia.

The mention came in the resolution titled “The role of the OSCE in the current security architecture: a parliamentary perspective”, adopted at the 31st annual session of the Assembly.

In his comments at a session of the Assembly, Samkharadze also noted the Georgian proposal to insert occupation of Georgian territories in another amendment on Russian activities had been “rejected”.

He stressed that the entries in the resolution of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly were unacceptable, and further added “that is why we did not vote for the final declaration”.

The Georgian proposal to insert occupation of Georgian territories in another amendment talking about Russian malign activities was also surprisingly rejected. Due to this horrendous undermining of Georgian state interests, we will vote against the final declaration. I am well aware that our vote is not decisive as we are a small country, we have a very small delegation and definitely we will be outnumbered, but we have to openly declare that these are biased amendments with statements based on hearsay and no supporting evidence”, Samkharadze said.  

“It is very frustrating to see this Assembly playing into the hands of Russia in this particular case, but our determination remains unshaken and we will continue to fight to defend our country. [...] Up until yesterday I thought this organisation recognised only one Georgia within its internationally recognised borders and I thought I was representing it for the last four years. Apparently, this Assembly now thinks that there is Tbilisi controlled Georgia - an absolutely unacceptable term on the one hand - and Abkhazia and Ossetia on the other. Very heartbreaking to say the least'”, he noted.

He also added another amendment had singled out political polarisation in Georgia and criticised the Georgian Government for it.

“Whereas political polarisation is even deeper in many other countries of the OSCE area, the resolution does not criticise polarisation in any other member country, but Georgia”, the lawmaker said.

The ruling party on Tuesday said ​​the Government’s “resolve” following the amendments remained “unwavering”, and further pointed out that “we will continue to fight to protect our country”.