On 5-6 December, the 31st meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE Ministerial Council) was held in Valletta, Malta. On behalf of the so-called Group of Friends of Georgia at the OSCE (Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom and the United States of America), a statement was once again delivered in a “conventional tone”, containing a long-standing set of monotonous and irrelevant expressions, unchanged in form and content.
The representatives of the “collective West”, following their policy agenda, once again issued the expected, by supporting “the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia”, while calling at the same time on Russia to revoke the recognition of South Ossetia and withdraw its armed forces from the territory, not forgetting to accuse it of “occupation” and “military aggression”.
The absurdity of applying the concepts of “occupation” and “occupied territories” to South Ossetia has been repeatedly demonstrated, including in the format of the International Discussions on Security and Stability in the Transcaucasia, to which the OSCE is a participant. Nevertheless, instead of taking effective measures to promote the issue of Georgia signing a legally binding document on the non-use of force against South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Organization has been advocating “double standards” year after year, leveling its own fundamental principles.
It is regrettable to note that in recent times the platforms of various once reputable international organizations have gradually degenerated, turning into a tool for imposing lies and a stage for political propaganda, Russophobiс and anti-Ossetian rhetoric. This also applies to the OSCE, which has lost a long time ago its ability to resolve its mandated tasks, first and foremost those relating to security.
The OSCE, which was established as an organization based on equality and consideration of the interests of all parties, has completely discredited itself. By continuing adopting statements, in which they allegedly express with irrepressible constancy “concern about human rights violations in South Ossetia” and never put a single word about the condemnation of the crimes and murders of hundreds of civilians in August 2008 and of the hundreds and thousands of Ossetians who were expelled, the OSCE is moving further and further away from the solution of real problems.
We deem it necessary to remind the “Group of Friends of Georgia at the OSCE” about the existing geopolitical reality in the region and the importance of an objective approach to assessing the current state of affairs with regard to the Republic of South Ossetia, which declared independence by the will of its people in accordance with the norms of international law in the early 1990s.
In conditions of ongoing military aggression by the Georgian nationalist forces that came to power in the former Georgian Soviet Republic, that decision was the only opportunity to preserve our identity, language and future. Following the norms of democracy and freedom, the people of South Ossetia are exercising their inalienable right enshrined in the Constitution, building relations based on equality, non-interference and other fundamental principles.
The tragic events of August 2008 in South Ossetia, the responsibility for which lies entirely on the criminal regime of Saakashvili and his sponsors, including the countries of the so-called Group of Friends of Georgia at the OSCE, and the subsequent recognition of the independence of the Republic of South Ossetia by the Russian Federation, marked the beginning of a new era in the development of our nation.
Following the spirit of historically formed friendly relations with Russia, which is the only guarantor of security of South Ossetia, striving to strengthen peace and stability in the region, the Republic of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation improve interaction in all spheres of cooperation on the basis of bilateral international legal documents.
While recognizing the statements of the “Group of Friends of Georgia at the OSCE” voiced at the Ministerial on 6 December as absolutely untenable, single-minded and detached from reality, we call for greater objectivity and responsibility with regard to South Ossetia.
Tskhinval, 18 December 2024