Georgian Parliament Speaker: broad support for UN resolution keeps Georgia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty high on international agenda

The support shown by individual states for the UN resolution demonstrates that the issues of Georgia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the return of internally displaced persons remain high on the international agenda, said on Friday Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili.

Papuashvili commented on the resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly titled “Status of Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia and the Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, Georgia”, noting that Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again performed effectively.

“It is important that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again worked successfully at the United Nations. This resolution has more co-sponsors than the previous one and received the support of 107 countries. It is also important to maintain a stable number of abstentions and ensure that this trend does not shift in a negative direction”, he said.

Papuashvili further highlighted that this once again demonstrated the importance of international legal norms.

“At the same time, unfortunately, the hopes that Georgians have always placed in the rules-based international order are currently under strain, as we see that the United Nations is, regrettably, unable to fully perform the role it should in ensuring international rules and resolving conflicts”, he said.

“On the other hand, the support expressed by individual states for the resolution shows that the issues of Georgia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty, and the return of displaced persons remain high on the international agenda”, the Parliament Speaker concluded.

During its 80th session in New York, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the resolution “Status of Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia and the Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, Georgia”, initiated by Georgia and a total of 68 countries from different regions of the world.

The resolution was supported by 107 countries, while a record-low number of eight states voted against it.