Georgian delegation boycotts OSCE PA vote, walks out of session in protest

The Georgian delegation on Wednesday refused to participate in the vote at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and walked out of the session in protest.

Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, said that certain provisions of the revised declaration deliberately distort Georgia’s political reality and misrepresent the facts, thereby undermining the country’s national interests.

“As certain parts of the revised declaration deliberately distort the political reality in Georgia, grossly misrepresent and falsify the facts, completely ignore the violent attacks on state institutions, and arbitrarily interpret the election observation findings and the Moscow Mechanism report, thereby jeopardising Georgia’s national interests, our delegation will not participate in the voting process as a sign of protest”, he said.

“It is doubly regrettable that we have to make such a decision in The Hague, the capital of international law. I would like to ask the Secretariat to duly reflect our position in the official record of the Assembly’s proceedings”, Samkharadze concluded.

Earlier today, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly adopted a critical resolution on Georgia prepared by US Congressman Joe Wilson.