Parliament Backs Government’s Efforts in South Ossetia

Today the Georgian Parliament discussed a statement drafted and submitted for its approval, concerning the recent developments in breakaway South Ossetia and in direct response to a harsh statement released by the Russian Parliament on June 3.

The proposed document is expected to be voted on and passed sometime later this evening, June 4.

In the document, the Parliament expresses its support for the Georgian government’s humanitarian initiatives taken towards the population of breakaway South Ossetia; initiatives that include proposals to both restore the railway link in the region as well as the distribution of pensions from the state budget.

“The first steps have already been taken towards settlement of the South Ossetian conflict. Resolution of this conflict will create a precedent for the settlement of other frozen conflicts in post-Soviet space,” the statement reads. 
 
The Parliament also reiterated that the conflict should be resolved through peaceful means only. 
 
Georgian MPs called on Russia to exercise restraint in the region, stating that “attempts to interfere in internal affairs of another country will result in nothing good for either Russia or Georgia.”
 
The Parliament called on the United States, Russia and other countries, as well as international organizations, to support Georgia in these matters of conflict resolution and invited their help in matters concerning further rehabilitations in the Tskhinvali region.

In a statement released on June 3, the Russian State Duma, a lower house of the Parliament, condemned the Georgian authorities’ decision to send extra troops into the conflict zone and considered it a “show of force.”  
 
A joint session of three parliamentary committees within the Russian State Duma is scheduled for June 10, wherein Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected make a special report in regards to the situation in breakaway South Ossetia.