“The decision of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe is unprecedented, as it introduces the term occupation at the executive level for the first time,” the Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani declared on Thursday.

“Our main priority is to make the Russian-Georgian conflict issue real in the international arena and mobilize the support of the international community. We have another important success in this direction. The CoE Committee of Ministers in Strasbourg has adopted a decision on Georgia. We have been adopting such documents within this organization every year since 2014. But the decision is unprecedented this year as the term occupation has been introduced at the executive level for the first time,” FM said.

Zalkaliani underscored that the Committee of Ministers welcomed the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Georgia v. Russia war case.

“Committee of Ministers welcomed the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the Georgia v. Russia 2008 war case that established the responsibility of the Russian Federation for grave human rights violations during the occupation of the Georgian Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region following the August 2008 war,” the Minister said.

According to Zalkaliani, the Committee of Ministers called on Russia to execute the ECHR judgment.

“In addition, it calls on the Russian Federation, as the state exercising effective control, to ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia, by taking concrete steps outlined in detail in the document. Committee calls on Russia to secure immediate and unrestricted access of the Council of Europe bodies to the Georgian regions,” Minister said.

Zalkaliani praised all members of the organization who supported this decision.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe took its eighth decision on Georgia on May 12, 2012.