Lithuanian Parliament passed a resolution on June 1 condemning “aggression” and “occupation” parts of Georgian territories by Russia.

The resolution was welcomed in Tbilisi with officials highlighting the fact that the resolution describes breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories.

Georgian Parliamentary Chairman, Davit Bakradze, said that use of term “occupation” in the Lithuanian Parliament’s resolution “is very important, especially in the view that it is the Parliament of EU and NATO member country.”

“We are very grateful to our Lithuanian friends,” he said. “We will continue our efforts directed towards having this term – occupation – mentioned by the Parliaments of other countries – that means that Russia would eventually be forced to withdraw from Georgia like it from Eastern Europe and the Baltic States.”

Georgian parliamentary committee for foreign relations has recently sent a letter to lawmakers from 31 countries requesting to “declare the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as being territories under Russian occupation and recognise the ethnic cleansing committed by Russia”.

“This process has started with Lithuania, which is the first European country to pass such resolution; this is the first and others will follow; I promise the similar resolutions will be passed by the parliaments of many countries and even by the European Parliament,” Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, said on June 2.

The European Parliament last month was considering using term “occupied territories” in reference to Abkhazia and South Ossetia in its resolution on South Caucasus, but the term was removed from the draft and not included in the final text adopted on May 20.