Deputy Foreign Minister Bartosz Cichocki was quoted as saying on Thursday that the international community needed to support Georgia amid continued Russian occupation of the country’s Tskhinvali and Abkhazia regions.
Speaking at a conference in the Georgian city of Batumi, Cichocki said Georgia was committed to maintaining security and world peace, Poland’s niezalezna.pl website reported.
“The obligation to support Georgia in the face of Russia’s occupation of the Tskhinvali and Abkhazia regions does not arise solely from our attachment to international law, but also from our appreciation of the progress made by Georgia in its reforms and its involvement in maintaining security and peace in the world,” Cichocki said at the Georgia's European Way conference, as quoted by the Polish foreign ministry.
The conference, organised for the 15th time by Georgia's foreign ministry, was attended by top officials from that country as well as foreign politicians, experts, European Union officials and guests representing international organisations, niezalezna.pl reported.
According to the Polish foreign ministry, conference participants discussed issues affecting European integration and regional security.
Cichocki took part in a panel discussion focusing on regional security architecture, according to the foreign ministry in Warsaw.
“Poland firmly advocates strengthening NATO’s eastern flank and continuing its open-door policy,” he said, as quoted by the Polish foreign ministry on its website.
Cichocki added: “We want to bring stability to the region through the presence of NATO troops in Poland, the Baltic states and Romania. Georgia will also benefit from it.”
After Georgia’s conflict with Russia in 2008, the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which account for 20 percent of Georgia’s territory, declared independence, niezalezna.pl said.
Russia signed an alliance and strategic partnership agreement with both separatist regions. However, most countries, including Poland, treat the two republics as part of Georgia, according to niezalezna.pl.
Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by Russia, the Polish website added.
European Parliament deputies on Thursday adopted a resolution on Russian-occupied territories in Georgia 10 years after Russia’s invasion of that country.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in December reiterated his country’s support for Georgia joining NATO and the European Union.
(gs/pk)
Source: niezalezna.pl, msz.gov.pl