10 April 2017•Update: 10 April 2017
By Diyar Guldogan
ANKARA
NATO on Monday condemned what it called "illegitimate" voting in Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia.
"NATO does not recognize the so-called presidential elections nor the so-called referendum held in the South Ossetia region of Georgia this Sunday," spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.
Local citizens went to the polls on Sunday to elect a president and change the name of the region to ‘Alania’.
Georgia fought a five-day war with Russia in 2008 over the Moscow-backed region and Abkhazia.
Georgia lost its control of both areas. Russia later recognized both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
According to Georgian news agency Interpressnews, Anatoly Bibilov, so-called speaker of South Ossetia’s parliament, won the presidential election with 57.98 percent of the vote.
Almost 80 percent of voters supported changing the name of South Ossetia.
Lungescu said unilateral steps to change the name of the region were detrimental to efforts to find a lasting settlement.
She added that NATO allies did not recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
"The Alliance reiterates its full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its international borders," said Lungescu.
- Russia hails election
Moscow, however, defended the election, according to Russian news agency TASS.
"We welcome the election of the president of South Ossetia. We note that it was an absolutely politically competitive, democratic election process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in comments reported by TASS.
Peskov also said the elections were "quite transparent".
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said on Sunday the election and referendum were against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and "grossly" violated basic principles.
According to his statement, Margvelashvili also called on the international community to take a firm position on Russia's policies.
Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said in a Sunday statement the "so-called" election and referendum in the "occupied territories” of Georgia were illegal.
"This provocative act by the Russian occupation forces grossly violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia," it added.
