Tbilisi: The Government of the republic of Georgia has welcomed the statement “Groups of friends of Georgia”. This county includes in “Groups of friends of Georgia” have issue this statement on the sidelines of 31st OSCE ministerial meeting and extended full support to Georgia.
The Groups of Friends of Georgia to the OSCE includes the names of many counties and some of them are Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom and the United States.
It is worth to note that in this statement, the Group of Friends reaffirmed its firm commitment to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders.
The countries expressed deep concern about the continued occupation of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, sixteen years after the Russian Federation’s military invasion of Georgia and stressed the need for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
The statement strongly condemned the Russian military aggression against Georgia in 2008. They noted with concern that since the restoration of independence, Georgia has been the target of Russian conventional warfare and hybrid tactics.
They expressed concern, among other things, about the illegal deployment of Russian military forces in the Abkhazian and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia.
The countries in this statement also welcomed Georgia’s commitment to the EU-brokered ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008 and called on Russia to immediately implement its commitment under the ceasefire agreement to withdraw its forces to the pre-conflict positions. T
he Group of Friends called on Russia to withdraw its recognition of the so-called independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
In the statement the group of friends notes that such actions are in direct violation of international law and OSCE commitments and they call on Russia to cease measures that undermine Georgia’s sovereignty and hinder confidence-building efforts.
In the statement, the member states of the Group of Friends expressed deep concern about the ethnic discrimination and serious human rights violations against Georgians in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, including restrictions on freedom of movement and access to education in the native Georgian language. The statement noted that these violations are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis and increasing the risk of depopulation of these regions.
At the same time in the statement they have also called upon the Russia to hold accountable those accused of killing Georgian citizens and to release those arbitrarily detained by the occupying forces. The Group of Friends member states called for the immediate and unconditional release of those illegally detained.
