Foreign ministry asks international community for "essential effort" for ending occupation on eve of anniversary
The foreign office released its statement on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Photo via Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has appealed for "essential effort" from the international community in the process of ending the ongoing occupation of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions of Georgia, in a release on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the occupation.
In the statement made to mark the date, the ministry asks the country's international partners for substantial assistance in ending the occupation, ensuring return of refugees from the two regions and giving an assessment to Russia's "continued aggressive politics in the wider Black Sea region."
The foreign office's release reiterates the Georgian government's policy of peaceful resolution of the conflicts that have their source in the 1990s and were again flashpoints in the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Georgia is "fully complying" with the August 12, 2008 ceasefire agreement that ended the five-day war, the ministry says, and is expecting relevant steps from Russia.
The MFA says its course is aimed at ending the occupation while also reconciling and restoring trust between "populations of Georgia divided by the occupation lines". Among initiatives for peaceful processes in conflict areas is work for "deepening civic involvement" between communities divided by the administrative boundary line marking the occupation.
Initiatives including the Step Towards a Better Future project of the state and the formation of a government commission for ending the occupation and a peaceful resolution of the conflicts are mentioned in the ministry's statement on the eve of the 2008 conflict anniversary.
The release also includes a detailing of violations in the occupied regions, under de-facto control of Russian occupying forces and local "governments". The MFA notes violations of fundamental rights on the territories including ethnic cleansing, destruction of Georgian villages and prevention of a return of refugees.
The ministry's comments mention rulings of the European Court of Human Rights that place responsibility for these and other violations on Russia as the occupying force, in addition to the ongoing refusal of the Russian government to respect terms of the August 12 ceasefire.
An appreciation of the "resolute support" for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity from the international community is also noted in the statement, along with a recognition of the "significant role" of international organisations in supporting a peaceful resolution of the conflicts.
Russian-controlled occupation forces continue to erect new iron poles and fences near the Nikozi village of central Georgia, Gori municipality, about 15 metres from the occupation line.
The Georgian parliament has adopted a resolution on de-occupation and peaceful resolution of territorial conflicts to once again urge Russia to withdraw its forces from Georgian territory and request stronger support from the international community.
US Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Rob Portman, who arrived in Georgia late yesterday, visited the occupation line near the village of Zemo Nikozi earlier today which separates the country’s Russian-occupied Tskhinvali region from the rest of Georgia. The European Union Monitoring Mission accompanied the senators at the scene and briefed them about the situation on the ground.
The US Department of State has called on Russia to withdraw its forces from the occupied regions of Georgia and fulfil obligations of the 2008 ceasefire agreement it signed to end the conflict.
One Georgian citizen has been detained, while another has been sent to illegal pretrial detention by the Russian-controlled de facto government of Tskhinvali, the Georgian State Security Service reports.
In the document, the CoE welcomed the recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Georgia v. Russia that ‘established the responsibility of Russia for grave human rights violations during the period of occupation of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali following the August 2008 war, as the state exercising effective control over those regions’.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has visited the occupation line between Russia-occupied region of Abkhazia and Georgia on the Enguri bridge today.
Georgian and foreign officials and diplomatic missions have issued condemnations of Russia's ongoing occupation of two of Georgia's regions and called on the Russian government to comply with the ceasefire agreement that ended the 2008 war between the two countries, on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the conflict.
Georgian officials, state institutions and the wider society are marking 13 years since the 2008 war that left tens of thousands displaced from their homes in the now-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, while over 400 citizens of the country were killed.
Politicians, ambassadors and ministries of Georgia's international partner states have marked the 13th anniversary of the 2008 war with messages condemning Russia's ongoing occupation of two of Georgia's regions and reiterating support for the territorial integrity of the country.
Georgia is commemorating today a group of soldiers who lost their lives during the Russia-Georgia 2008 war in a battle in Shindisi village in central Georgia.On the day 13 years ago a 21-member detachment of Georgian soldiers came face-to-face with Russian soldiers in the village of Shindisi. The Russians greatly outnumbered the Georgian soldiers and ordered them to surrender, but they refused.
Five US Congressmen, Alex Mooney, Kelly Michael Armstrong, Bryan George Steil, Carol Devine Miller and Ronald Jean Estes arrived in Georgia earlier today. While in Georgia between September 6-9 the US legislators will meet with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani, Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze, Minister of Economy Natia Turnava and Georgian MPs.
Five US Congressmen – Bryan George Steil, Carol Devine Miller, Alex Mooney, Ronald Jean Estes and Kelly Michael Armstrong – have visited the Georgian village of Odzisi, near the administrative boundary separating the Russian-occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region from the country.
Russian occupation forces have illegally detained two Georgian citizens in central Georgia’s Gori municipality, in territory adjacent to the occupied Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) region, the Georgian State Security Service confirmed on Tuesday.