The Georgian Foreign Ministry has condemned today the holding of Russian State Duma elections in occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia as “another destructive step by Moscow that grossly violates the fundamental norms of international law and completely disregards the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.”
The Foreign Ministry pointed said the fact that population of Georgia’s occupied region elect majoritarian MPs in Voronezh, Leningrad, Samara districts and Zabaykalsky Krai, as well as political parties in Russia “clearly points at clearly points at the ongoing process of de facto annexation of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region.”
It also noted that since the 2000s, the Russian Federation has carried out illegal, forced passportization in the Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region, and continued the occupation and effective control over these regions, barring hundreds of thousands of IDPs and refugees from returning to their homes.
“Holding any elections on the ground, especially for composing the legislature of the occupying state, is illegal and will unlikely bring any legal outcome,” the Foreign Ministry said.
Nine polling stations were opened for Russian State Duma elections in occupied Abkhazia and 10 polling stations – in Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia. Russian occupying forces, as well as Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officers were also eligible to cast their ballots.
Moscow-backed Abkhaz leader Aslan Bzhania voted at Russian State Duma elections on September 19, while Anatoly Bibilov, occupied Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia leader cast a ballot on September 17.
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