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The de facto authorities of Abkhazia have “once again” undermined the principle of the territorial integrity of Georgia, forcing this region further into isolation to the detriment of the local population, Leendert Verbeek, the President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe (CoE) said in response to the so-called “parliamentary elections” held in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region on Saturday.

Verbeek said the Congress had “always shown its unrelenting commitment” to the territorial integrity of member states within their internationally recognised borders, noting the principle was “all the more important” in the context of the ongoing Russian military aggression against Ukraine.

The CoE official strongly condemned actions undermining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia as a member state, adding illegal recognitions of independence of territories of member states came “only one step” before further aggression and war, a principle he said had already been known before the Russian invasion in Ukraine last month.