MFA condemns Russian presidential elections, illegal opening of polling stations in Georgia's occupied regions

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia condemns the holding of the presidential elections of the Russian Federation in the occupied regions of Georgia and the illegal opening of polling stations in order to massively involve the local population. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia publishes a statement about this.

The agency notes that this action is a step against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia by the Russian Federation, which grossly violates the fundamental principles and norms of international law, and completely ignores the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act.

“Conducting any elections in the occupied regions is illegal in the background of the occupation, which is established by international courts among others, and in the conditions when the population expelled from the occupied territories as a result of ethnic cleansing is still not given the opportunity to return to their homes.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia calls on the Russian Federation to stop its actions against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and to fulfill its international obligations, including the ceasefire agreement of August 12, 2008, brokered by the European Union.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia appeals to the international community to give a proper assessment and respond to other illegal actions of Russia in the occupied regions, which are aimed at encroaching on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia,” the statement said.

President Vladimir Putin won a record post-Soviet landslide in Russia’s election on Sunday, cementing his already tight grip on power in a victory he said showed Moscow had been right to stand up to the West and send its troops into Ukraine.

Putin, a former KGB lieutenant colonel who first rose to power in 1999, made it clear that the result should send a message to the West that its leaders will have to reckon with an emboldened Russia, whether in war or in peace, for many more years to come.

The outcome means Putin, 71, is set to embark on a new six-year term that will see him overtake Josef Stalin and become Russia’s longest-serving leader for more than 200 years if he completes it.

Putin won 87.8% of the vote, the highest ever result in Russia’s post-Soviet history, according to an exit poll by pollster the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM). The Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) put Putin on 87%. First official results indicated the polls were accurate. The United States, Germany, the United Kingdom and other nations have said the vote was neither free nor fair due to the imprisonment of political opponents and censorship.