Chairman-in-Office issues statement on "so-called" presidential elections and referendum in Abkhazia, Georgia

OSLO, 6 October 1999 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister Knut Vollebaek of Norway, states the international community acknowledges Abkhazia, Georgia, as an integral part of Georgia. The OSCE considers the 3 October 1999 "so-called" presidential elections and national referendum on the constitution to be unacceptable and illegitimate.

Furthermore, the limited suffrage in which a large part of the population is excluded from voting and displaced outside Abkhazia, Georgia, makes the elections inadmissable.

The OSCE supports the efforts of the two sides to achieve an early and comprehensive settlement within the framework of the Geneva process, under the auspices of the United Nations.