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Foreign Ministry said the northern Georgian region and Syria had "established diplomatic relations."
The European Union issued a statement saying that the Syrian regime's move "violates international law and the principle of territorial integrity as defined by the United Nations Charter and relevant UN Security Council resolutions."
"The European Union fully supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders," Maja Kocijancic, the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini, said.
South Ossetia and Abkhazia are Russian-backed separatist regions that have declared independence from Georgia. Russia recognized the regions as independent states following a short war with Tbilisi in August 2008.
2.3 US “working on” Georgia’s Nato accession
The new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo assured Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili that the US is “working on Georgia's accession to Nato” during the Georgian premier’s visit to Washington.
Georgia has long sought membership of Nato, but its path to accession is complicated by the presence of the Russian military in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two Georgian regions that broke away from Tbilisi with Russian support.
Arguments from the US and Poland that Georgia should be allowed to join the Nato Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the Bucharest Nato summit back in 2008 were countered by other countries including France and Germany who feared the impact this would have on relations with Russia. Just a few months later, war broke out between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia.
A number of US officials continue to support Georgia’s progress towards Nato membership. In addition to Pompeo’s comment, Vice President Mike Pence “confirmed the readiness of the [US] to support steps towards Georgia's integration to Nato,” a Georgian government statement said.
Speaking at the USIP Second Annual U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Conference the previous day, Kvirikashvili stressed Georgia’s readiness to join the alliance.
“For its part, Georgia understands and contributes to America developing and defending its interests in our region, and democratic values everywhere,” the prime minister said.
“Georgia honours its part of the partnership bargain by fighting alongside America and its NATO allies in hotspots like Iraq and Afghanistan, where Georgia has suffered more casualties per capita than any Nato country except the United States. Georgia's spending on defence well exceeds Nato’s two-percent [of GDP] standard, as President Trump has rightly insisted on.”
Tbilisi is understood to be considering a fast-track strategy to gain entry to Nato, put forward by US conservative think tank the Heritage Foundation. It proposed temporarily excluding Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Nato’s
8 GEORGIA Country Report June 2018 www.intellinews.com