MP Samkharadze condemns Russia–South Ossetia agreement as ‘gross violation of international law’

Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Foreign Relations Committee Nikoloz Samkharadze, has condemned the so-called agreement on deepening allied cooperation signed between Russia and the self-proclaimed South Ossetia in May, describing it as a gross violation of international law, during his address at the 33rd Annual Session of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's General Committee on Political Affairs and Security.

Samkharadze said Georgia has been under occupation for the past 30 years and argued that the agreement represents "another desperate attempt by Moscow to consolidate the occupation and strengthen the de facto annexation" of territories internationally recognised as part of Georgia.

He stressed that any agreements or legal acts concluded by the self-proclaimed authorities of the occupied regions are null and void under international law.

In his remarks, Samkharadze also addressed the OSCE Moscow Mechanism report, stating that its conclusions were not supported by a majority of OSCE participating states. He argued that the report contained factual inaccuracies and noted that its author had acknowledged insufficient time to gather evidence for all allegations. According to Samkharadze, while Georgia agrees with some of the report's recommendations and has already implemented some of them, the document should not be regarded as the final authority on the issues it examines.