NATO Parliamentary Assembly Plenary Session, October 9, 2017. Photo: NATO PA

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s annual session in Bucharest on October 6-9 adopted several non-binding resolutions on broad range of security-related issues, with Georgia raised in one of the resolutions.

The Resolution on Stability and Security in the Black Sea Region, presented by the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security and adopted by the Plenary Assembly on October 9, expresses deep concern over “heightened tensions in the region,” and condemns “continuous illegal occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of Georgia by Russia, and its military build-up.”

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly welcomes the commitment made by the Allied leaders “to strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the Alliance’s partners Georgia and Ukraine,” and reaffirms “unequivocal condemnation of Russia’s continued violations of Georgian and Ukrainian territorial integrity, severe human rights violations in the occupied territories and efforts to intimidate and destabilise its neighbours that aspire to join and seek closer ties with Euro-Atlantic institutions.”

The Parliamentary Assembly also welcomes reform programs in Georgia and Ukraine and “their significant achievements,” but says it is “mindful that the process of national transformation continues to face significant challenges.” The Assembly also recalls the decision of the 2008 NATO Summit in Bucharest that Georgia and Ukraine will become members of the Alliance and reaffirms its “steadfast support to Georgia and Ukraine in the process of their Euro-Atlantic integration.”

The resolution calls on the member governments and parliaments of the North Atlantic Alliance “to continue strategic discussions with Georgia and Ukraine on Black Sea security, further enhance Georgia’s and Ukraine’s engagement in NATO’s activities aimed at strengthening security in the region and to promote political decision regarding the next steps towards the implementation of the 2008 Bucharest Summit decision.” 

It also calls on the Russian Federation “to withdraw from Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” and urges the member governments and parliaments to continue supporting reforms in Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, including security sector reform, as well as to “continue insisting on restoration of Georgia’s territorial integrity.”

The issue of conflicts in Georgia was raised in number of other resolutions adopted previously by the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, including in its Tbilisi Declaration on May 29, 2017.

The Bucharest Annual Session brought together around 300 delegates from 29 NATO member states - plus 23 associate and observer countries. The Assembly is the parliamentary dimension of NATO, forming a link between the Alliance and citizens across the Euro-Atlantic area.