United Nations ‘Regrets’ Tskhinvali Referendum

Stéphane Dujarric, the Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary General António Guterres, expressed “regret” over the April 9 referendum on renaming the Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia into “the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania.”

Responding to questions at a press briefing on April 11, Stéphane Dujarric noted that the United Nations reiterates its “previous calls for the participants in the Geneva International Discussions to engage constructively in making tangible progress and to refrain from any unilateral action that may adversely impact regional peace and security and undermine the work of the discussions.”

“We regret any such recent unilateral actions,” he added.

80% of voters in Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia cast ballots in support of renaming the region into “the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania.”

Simultaneously with the referendum, Tskhinvali also held polls for the region’s leadership.

The South Ossetia polls have been denounced as illegitimate by Tbilisi and the international community, including NATO, Azerbaijan, Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, the United States, the European Union, Japan, Poland and Ukraine. Concerns over the polls have been voiced in the international organizations as well, including at the UN Human Rights Council and the United Nations Security Council.

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