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Vanuatu annuls recognition of Abkhazia - report

Posted at 21:19 on 19 June, 2011 UTC

Reports from Georgia say Vanuatu’s new government has annulled last month’s decision of the former government to recognize Abkhazia’s independence.

A Georgian foreign ministry official Zurab Aleksidze has told media in Tbilisi that the administration of Edward Natapei has reversed the decision by his predecessor, Sato Kilman, to recognise the Russian-backed breakaway region of Georgia.

Mr Aleksidze says this means that Vanuatu supports the territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognised borders.

Apart from Russia, only three other countries, including Nauru, recognise Abkhazia’s sovereignty.