MP Samkharadze: We strongly condemn so-called agreement concluded this May between Russia and so-called South Ossetia

Georgia’s Parliament Foreign Relations Committee Chair Nikoloz Samkharadze condemned the so-called Agreement on the Deepening of Allied Interaction signed in May between Russia and the occupation regime in Tskhinvali, calling it a gross violation of international law, during his address at the 33rd annual session of the Political Affairs and Security Committee of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

Samkharadze thanked the rapporteur for including references to Russia’s occupation of Georgian territories in the committee’s report, noting that Georgia has lived under occupation for the past 30 years.

“We want to express our strongest condemnation of the so-called Treaty on Deepening Allied Interaction concluded between the Russian Federation and so-called South Ossetia in May this year. This document constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and represents Moscow’s yet another desperate attempt to entrench the occupation and advance the de facto annexation of territories that are internationally recognized as an integral part of Georgia. I hereby remind the international community, including the Russian Federation, that any so-called treaty, agreement, or other act concluded by the self-proclaimed authorities of the occupied regions is and will inherently be declared null and void,” he said.

Samkharadze also addressed the OSCE Moscow Mechanism report, stating that its conclusions were not supported by what he described as a majority of OSCE participating states, including the United States, France, Spain and Italy.

According to him, the report, prepared by a single expert within 71 hours, contains factual inconsistencies and allegations that were not fully substantiated. He noted that the expert had acknowledged insufficient time to gather evidence for all of the report’s findings.

“ Therefore, when the report was discussed at the Permanent Council at the OSCE, the Georgian government also provided its position towards the report. Therefore, we cannot take the report as an ultimate truth, because, as I mentioned, the expert herself recognized that she could not collect enough evidence for the report.

There are, of course, certain recommendations that we agree with, and some of these recommendations have already been implemented,” Samkharadze said.