EU Statement – UN General Assembly: Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development

EU Statement - UN General Assembly: Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development

4 June 2026, New York - Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States delivered by Mr. Quentin Weiler, Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, at the UN General Assembly on Agenda item 32(b): Protracted conflicts in the GUAM area and their implications for international peace, security and development

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President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, and Bosnia and Herzegovina*, as well as Andorra and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

The EU reaffirms its unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders.

The EU remains committed to supporting peacebuilding and conflict resolution in Georgia, including through the work of the EUSR, including as co-chair of the Geneva International Discussions and the EU Monitoring Mission Georgia.

The EU expresses its concern about human rights violations in the Georgian occupied breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and the persisting humanitarian challenges faced by the conflict-affected population. The EU calls to ensure full, safe and unhindered humanitarian access to support these populations, in particular in the occupied breakaway region of South Ossetia. The EU recalls in this respect that humanitarian access is stipulated in the six-point agreement from 12 August 2008.

The EU reiterates its concern regarding various obstacles to the work of non-governmental organizations and civil society actors in Georgia, many of whom are engaged in peacebuilding activities across the divides. The EU therefore calls for lifting impediments to the work of civil society organisations.

The EU underlines the importance of the right of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons to choose a durable solution, including a return, as well as of being able to exercise property rights. The EU regrets that no progress has been achieved on these fundamental rights and recalls that addressing refugees' and IDPs' issues is a core task of the Geneva International Discussions. The EU therefore calls upon the participants in the Geneva International Discussions to engage in a genuine dialogue on the various displacements which took place over the past three decades, including partial returns of IDPs. This dialogue should also look at ways to enhance the protection of these returnees and to promote and accompany further returns.

The EU welcomes the Georgian Government's efforts to secure durable housing solutions for internally displaced persons and to advance their socio-economic integration. It underlines that genuine integration must be sustained over time and can only be achieved through continued commitment and resources from the authorities, particularly to reduce the persistent disparity between the capital and the peripheral regions of Georgia. Accordingly, the EU calls on the authorities to embed IDP inclusion and prioritisation more deeply in the national development plan and to intensify actions that improve living conditions and livelihoods throughout the whole country.

Thank you.

1. North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.