9 July 2012
The Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE approved on July 9 a resolution on Georgia, underlining Georgia's territorial integrity and referring to breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as "occupied territories".
The resolution, hailed by Georgian officials for its reference of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as "occupied territories", was put forward to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Annual Session in Monaco on 5-9 July by Polish MP Michal Szczerba and was co-sponsored by 36 parliamentarians from nine countries.
The resolution "urges the Government and the Parliament of the Russian Federation, as well as the de facto authorities of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia, to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission unimpeded access to the occupied territories."
It also says that the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is "concerned about the humanitarian situation of the displaced persons both in Georgia and in the occupied territories of Abkhazia, Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgia, as well as the denial of the right of return to their places of living."
The resolution welcomes "further democratization of political life" in Georgia and calls on the authorities "to ensure that the upcoming Parliamentary Election in October 2012 and President Election in 2013 will be organized in line with OSCE commitments and recommendations, especially with regard to equal conditions for all participants in the election process and the free and independent functioning of the media."
The resolution also calls on the OSCE participating states to re-establish the OSCE Mission to Georgia, which was closed down in June, 2009 after a failure to agree on mandate extension following the August, 2008 war.
The Assembly is the parliamentary dimension of the OSCE with 320 lawmakers from the organization's 56 participating states, including Russia.
