OSCE expresses concern on "parliamentary elections" in Abkhazia, Georgia

LISBON, 1 March 2002 - The Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Portugal's Foreign Minister Jaime Gama, expressed his deep concern at the intention of the Abkhaz leadership to conduct so-called parliamentary elections on 2 March 2002 on the territory under its control.

Chairman-in-Office Gama underlined that all refugees and internally-displaced persons should be given the right to safe, secure and dignified return to their homes in Abkhazia before any election in the region could be held.

The international community, including the OSCE, has denounced similar elections in Abkhazia, Georgia in the past, calling them attempts to sanction unacceptable demographic changes resulting from the armed hostilities in 1992-93 and 1998.

The "elections" on 2 March are neither internationally binding nor supportive of the UN-led negotiation process aimed at an early, comprehensive and lasting peaceful settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.