“Marking 12 years since Russia’s military aggression against Georgia in August 2008”, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia confirmed its support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and condemned the occupation of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.
In a statement of August 7, the Ministry condemned Russia’s actions aimed at including the occupied regions in “Russia’s economic, customs, social and security space.”
It called on Russia to comply with EU-mediated 12 August 2008 ceasefire agreement and to reverse its recognition of the so-called independence of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
The Ministry also condemned the ongoing closure of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali crossing points with Georgia proper and restricting the free movement of the conflict-affected population.
The statement stressed that the “illegal installation of border signs and fences” on the lines dividing the occupied regions from Georgia proper “is not acceptable.” It decried “detentions perpetrated by Abkhazian and South Ossetian authorities and supported by Russia.”
As stated by the Latvian Foreign Ministry, restrictions to the free movement of the local population and “the spread of disinformation using the global pandemic of COVID-19 as a smokescreen cannot be tolerated.”
In this context, it stressed that the pandemic in Abkhazia and S. Ossetia “has proved that those regions are especially vulnerable to global problems, as they have limited financial and medical resources and sources of objective information to fight the virus.”
Latvian Foreign Ministry then hailed the work of the EU Monitoring Mission “in reducing tension among the parties to the conflict.” It said the current presence of eight Latvians in the mission demonstrates Latvia’s support to the EUMM.
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