Georgia condemns Russian elections in Abkhazia and South Ossetia
On the 18th of September, Russia opened polling stations in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali in the South Ossetia region, which was condemned in a statement made by the Georgian Foreign Ministry.
The statement said that as a result of the decision of the head of the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, over 114,000 people living in the occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions were included in the voter lists of various federal entities in order for them to vote for candidates in majority constituency.
The inhabitants of these territories have been illegally issued with Russian passports since the beginning of the 2000s. The statement went on to say that these inhabitants then illegally voted in Russian parliamentary and presidential elections between 2011 and 2012.
“The above-mentioned actions of the Russian Federation show a complete disregard of the UN Charter-approved key principles, which include the inviolability of internationally recognized borders and the non-interference in internal affairs,” the statement says.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry condemned the elections of the State Duma in the occupied regions of Georgia as “another manifestation of the annexation policy of Moscow, which grossly violates the fundamental norms of the international law”.
The ministry urged the international community to give an appropriate assessment and to respond to the illegal actions of the Russian Federation, which are aimed at the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia.