UK slams Assad regime decision on Abkhazia, S. Ossetia

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The U.K. on Wednesday said Bashar al-Assad regime’s decision to recognize Abhkazia and South Ossetia, the breakaway Georgian territories, is “utterly unacceptable.”

“It is utterly unacceptable that the Asad regime has recognised the so-called “independence” of the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” the Foreign Office Minister for Europe and Americas Sir Alan Duncan said in a statement.

The reaction came a day after a statement by Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria stated it will recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s unilateral independence from Georgia.

“The Russian military intervention in Georgia in 2008 and its subsequent recognition of the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as so-called “independent states” was an unacceptable violation of the sovereign rights of Georgia,” Duncan said.

“Russia’s actions continue to undermine Georgia’s rightful territorial integrity,” he added.

Duncan said the Assad regime’s latest move “will do nothing to bring peace closer,” but “once again, both the Syrian regime and Russia are aggressively trying to undermine the rules-based international order.”

“The British Government reiterates its full support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and to UN Security Council Resolution 1808 which reaffirms the commitment of all Member States to the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders,” Duncan said.

According to Syria’s official SANA news agency, Assad regime had an agreement to recognize the independence of two regions.

The regime will establish diplomatic ties at the embassy level, the reports added.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia, self-declared independent states, are disputed areas between Russia and Georgia.

Moscow recognized the independence of the Georgian breakaway regions after a six-day war with Georgia in 2008.

The only UN member states to recognize the breakaway regions are Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nauru.