Georgian delegation refuses to vote at OSCE PA, walking out in protest

The Georgian delegation has refused to participate in a vote at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, walking out of the session in protest.

According to MP Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, specific sections of the amended declaration deliberately distort the political reality in Georgia and falsify facts.

“Because specific parts of the amended declaration deliberately distort the political reality in Georgia, grossly misrepresent and falsify facts, completely disregard violent attacks carried out against state institutions, and arbitrarily interpret election observation and Moscow Mechanism reports, thereby jeopardising Georgia’s national interests, our delegation will not participate in the voting process as a matter of protest.

It is doubly regrettable that we are forced to make such a decision here in The Hague, the capital of international law. I would request that the Secretariat duly record our position in the minutes of the Assembly session,” Nikoloz Samkharadze addressed the assembly.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly today adopted a highly critical resolution on Georgia, drafted by US Congressman Joe Wilson.