Gottemoeller: NATO Will Never Accept Occupation of Georgian Territories

NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller says the alliance will never stand for the occupation of Georgia’s two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Gottemoeller took to twitter to express her position. She called on the Russian Federation to reverse recognition of the two regions as “independent states.”

10 years ago Russia recognized #Georgia’s regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states. #NATO will never accept this. We continue to call on Russia to reverse these decisions and respect Georgia’s borders.

— Rose Gottemoeller (@Gottemoeller) August 27, 2018

On August 26, ten years ago, Russia recognized breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as “sovereign countries.” The decision followed the Georgia-Russia 5-day war in August 2008.

Russia recognizes the "independence” of breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia along with only four other countries - Syria, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nauru.

The remainder of the international community affirms that the two regions are integral parts of Georgia and call on Russia to fulfill the August 12 ceasefire agreement and revoke its recognition of the breakaway regions and withdraw its forces from Georgian territories.

By Thea Morrison