US Congress Adopts Resolution Supporting Georgia’s Territorial Integrity

WASHINGTON DC – Unites States House of Representative on Thursday unanimously passed a resolution supporting Georgia’s territorial integrity and protesting Russia’s military occupation of Georgia’s two separatists regions - Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

US Congressman Ted Poe, who co-chairs the Congressional Georgia Caucus, introduced the non-binding resolution in March, which was then co-sponsored by 33 members of the House of Representatives.

The resolution calls upon the Russian Federation to withdraw its recognition of Georgia’s territories as independent countries, to refrain from acts and policies that undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and withdraw its occupation forces from both Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

It also urges Russia to halt all violations of the ceasefire agreement signed between Georgia and Russia on August 12, 2008, following the five-day brief war between two countries.

The House resolution officially calls for further cooperation between Tbilisi and Washington to help the small post-Soviet country continue in its pursuit to fully integrate with Europe.

Following the collapse of the Soviet Union and Georgia’s declaration of independence in 1991 secessionist conflicts broke out in two of Georgia’s regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

During 1991-2008 years the Georgian government fought three wars against Russian-backed separatist forces in breakaway regions, which left hundreds of dead and displaced over 240,000 people.

Formal relations between Tbilisi and Moscow have been frozen since the Kremlin recognized South Ossetia and Georgia’s other Russian-occupied region Abkhazia as independent states.

By Tamar Svanidze
Edited by Nicholas Waller