Australia Rejects Abkhazia, S. Ossetia Polls

Australia joined in denouncing the March 12 Parliamentary Elections in Abkhazia and the April 9 referendum in South Ossetia.

“Australia rejects recent ‘elections’ in Abkhazia and upcoming ‘referendum’ in South Ossetia; strongly support Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Gillian Bird, the Australian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, wrote in her Twitter post.

Voters in Abkhazia cast their ballots on March 12 to elect the region’s 35-member National Assembly.

Elections in the region were denounced as illegitimate by Tbilisi and the international community, including the United States, Poland, NATO, Canada, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland and Azerbaijan.

Voters in South Ossetia will go to polls on April 9 to elect their new leader. Simultaneously with presidential polls, Tskhinvali will also hold a referendum on renaming the region to “the South Ossetia – the State of Alania,” which drew wide criticism in Tbilisi.

South Ossetia polls were rejected by the United States, Japan and Poland.