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Front News Georgia
Georgia is using the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie as a platform to strengthen international support for its policy of non-recognition of the country's Russian-occupied territories, Nikoloz Samkharadze, chair of the Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee said on Friday.
Samkharadze said the Georgian parliamentary delegation viewed the forum as an important opportunity to engage with countries that have limited diplomatic interaction with Georgia.
“This format is important for us because it gives us the opportunity to meet countries that are geographically distant from Georgia and with which we do not have active diplomatic communication,” he said.
Samkharadze said the annual session has brought together more than 300 delegates from North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
He said the Georgian delegation used its participation to highlight the consequences of Russia's occupation of parts of Georgia and to draw attention to the country's annual resolution at the United Nations concerning the status of internally displaced persons and refugees from Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia.
Samkharadze said Georgian MP Giorgi Kakhiani addressed the assembly on the humanitarian impact of the occupation, including the plight of people unable to return to their homes.
He added that the delegation appealed to countries that have previously abstained on the annual UN resolution to support it in future votes.
Samkharadze also said Georgian representatives outlined the country's efforts to strengthen its sovereignty and highlighted its economic progress over the past five years.
“We use this platform to strengthen the policy of non-recognition and to secure broader international support for Georgia's annual resolution at the United Nations,” he said.
A Georgian parliamentary delegation, comprising Kakhiani and Samkharadze, is participating in the 51st annual session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie (APF) in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
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Nikoloz Samkharadze
