Georgia: Russia directed Syria to recognize the independence of Georgian regions
Tbilisi says that Russia is behind Syria’s acknowledgment of the independence of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
“It’s a pity that as a result of Russian manipulation, the Assad regime accepted this decision,” the Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze said on May 30. He explained that in response to the recognition of the independence of the Georgian regions by Damascus, Tbilisi has already started procedures for breaking diplomatic relations with Syria.
On May 29, when the Syrian Foreign Ministry announced its decision to recognize Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region as independent states, Janelidze wrote on his Facebook page:
“That the illegitimate regime of Assad, for whom their own peaceful population, even children, do not represent any value, made such a step at the order of their ruler, Russia, is not surprising.”
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili made a similar comment on his Twitter account.
“Your allies reveal who you are. Today, Russia’s ally is the Assad regime, known for killing children with chemical weapons,” the Georgian president wrote.
Apart from Syria and Russia, three other member states of the UN – Venezuela, Nauru and Nicaragua – recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Georgian regions occupied by Russia.
The United States, Britain and the EU said that Syria’s decision to recognize the independence of the Georgian regions is unacceptable.
At the same time, State Department spokesman Heather Nauert said that the decision of Damascus “was not a complete surprise” for the United States because Bashar Assad supports the Russian-occupied Georgian territory.
The British Foreign Office, in a statement on May 30 about Syria’s recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, noted that “both the Syrian regime and Russia are aggressively trying to undermine the rule-based international order.”
The EU noted that the decision of the Syrian regime against Georgia “violates international law and the principles of territorial integrity established by the UN Charter and the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council.”