MOSCOW: Russia will not comply with a European court ruling ordering it to pay Georgia almost $300 million for violations it has allegedly committed since their 2008 war, the Kremlin said Wednesday.
Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 after Tbilisi launched a surprise offensive against pro-Moscow separatist forces that it said were shelling Georgian villages.
Since then, it has occupied areas of northern and western Georgia comprising almost one-fifth of the country and installed puppet governments that have prevented the return of ethnic Georgian citizens, according to Tbilisi.
It has also blocked the teaching of Georgian in schools, Georgia says.
On Tuesday, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld Georgia’s complaints, ordering Moscow to pay just over 253 million euros ($292 million) in compensation.
“We will not comply with the ruling,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Moscow quit the Council of Europe, of which the ECHR is part, following its 2022 offensive on Ukraine but the court says it remains liable for violations committed before then.
Moscow has repeatedly ignored ECHR rulings, including while it was still a member of the Council of Europe.
Georgia formally cut diplomatic relations with Russia in the wake of their 2008 war, but has taken informal steps to improve ties in recent years — a process that Georgia’s opposition has heavily criticized.
When asked on Wednesday whether the non-payment of the fine would affect the diplomatic thaw, Peskov said it was a “separate matter.”
Moscow recognizes the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent, while most of the world recognizes them as Georgian territory.
Russia rejects compensation to Georgia over 2008 war
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Russia rejects compensation to Georgia over 2008 war
- ECHR upheld Georgia’s complaints, ordering Moscow to pay just over $292m in compensation
- “We will not comply with the ruling,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said
Greek coast guard search for 15 after migrant boat found adrift
- The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water
ATHENS: Greek coast guard were on Monday searching for 15 people who fell into the water from a migrant boat that was found drifting off the coast of Crete with 17 bodies on board.
The 17 fatalities, all of them men, were discovered on Saturday on the craft, which was taking on water and partially deflated, some 26 nautical miles (48 kilometers) southwest of the island.
Post-mortem examinations were being carried out to determine how they died but Greek public television channel ERT suggested they may have suffered from hypothermia or dehydration.
A Greek coast guard spokeswoman told AFP that two survivors reported that “15 people fell in the water” after the motor cut out on Thursday, then the vessel drifted for two days.
At the time, Crete and much of the rest of Greece was battered by heavy rain and storms.
The two survivors reported that the vessel had become unstable due to bad weather and there was no means of getting shelter, food or water.
The vessel had 34 people on board and had left the Libyan port of Tobruk on Wednesday, the Greek port authorities said. Most of those who died came from Sudan and Egypt.
It was initially spotted by a Turkish-flagged cargo ship on Saturday, triggering a search that included ships and aircraft from the Greek coast guard and the European Union border agency Frontex.
Migrants have been trying to reach Crete from Libya for the last year, as a way of entering the European Union. But the Mediterranean crossing is perilous.
In Brussels, the EU’s 27 members on Monday backed a significant tightening of immigration policy, including the concept of returning failed asylum-seekers to “return hubs” outside the bloc.
The UN refugee agency said more than 16,770 asylum seekers in the EU have arrived on Crete since the start of the year — more than any other island in the Aegean Sea.
Greece’s conservative government has also toughened its migration policy, suspending asylum claims for three months, particularly those coming to Crete from Libya.
