The President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Pere Joan Pons, commented on the Georgian delegation's decision to boycott the vote on the Hague Declaration.

"Leaving seats in parliament empty is always the worst option, because democracy is, above all, a joint effort to resolve conflict.

As you know, even in your own country, leaving seats empty was not a good decision, and here you are doing exactly the same thing. I believe that leaving seats in parliament empty is always the worst option, because democracy is, above all, a joint effort to resolve conflict," the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President told Nikoloz Samkharadze.

For reference, the Georgian delegation refused to participate in the vote on the Hague Declaration during the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly plenary session as a sign of protest.

The announcement was made before the vote by Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Parliament of Georgia.

"I would like to make a procedural remark regarding the voting procedure and present the following statement on behalf of the Georgian delegation.

Because certain parts of the revised version of the declaration deliberately distort the political reality in Georgia, grossly misrepresent and falsify the facts, completely ignore the violent attacks against state institutions, and arbitrarily interpret both the reports of election observation missions and the Moscow Mechanism report, thereby threatening Georgia's national interests, our delegation will not participate in the voting process as a sign of protest.

It is doubly regrettable that we are forced to make such a decision here in The Hague, the capital of international law. I would ask the Secretariat to duly reflect our position in the official record of the Assembly's session.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Parliament of the Netherlands for its warm hospitality and the excellent organization of this event," Samkharadze said.