Press release, 28 June 2018
With 82 unanimous votes in favour, the Seimas adopted the Resolution on the Commemoration of the 10th Anniversary of the Occupation of a Part of the Territory of Georgia (draft No XIIIP-2363).
The legal act was initiated by Juozas Bernatonis, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and Egidijus Vareikis, Deputy Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. The Resolution reminds that, ten years ago, the armed forces of the Russian Federation seized, by means of aggression, parts of the territory of Georgia, its neighbouring country, and set up unrecognised puppet authorities in the occupied territories.
The Resolution condemns all forms of aggression, including armed attack and invasion of the territory of another state, and regrets that the Russian Federation hinders the activities of the European Union’s observer mission in the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and does not fulfil its own commitments undertaken under the cease-fire agreement of 12 August 2008 by failing to withdraw its troops from the occupied territories of Georgia to the pre-conflict positions and by recognising, on no legal grounds, the puppet formations supported by it in the occupied territories.
The Seimas recognises and expresses strong support for the territorial integrity, as defined in the country’s Constitution, of the state of Georgia, celebrating the centenary of its statehood, as well as the inviolability of its internationally recognised borders, and considers the occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to be an inseparable part of Georgia. Moreover, the Seimas considers the continued presence of the troops of the Russian Federation in the territory of Georgia and the activities of the puppet regimes in the regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to be the unlawful occupation of a sovereign country.
While expressing its support for the development of democracy, rule of law and other democratic reforms undertaken by Georgia, with a view to becoming a full member of European and transatlantic organisations, the Seimas calls on the European Union and NATO institutions, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, international organisations and their parliamentary assemblies, the entire international community and its political leaders to give due attention to ensuring Georgia’s territorial integrity and its European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
Saulė Eglė Trembo, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6203, e-mail: egle.trembo@lrs.lt