Occupied territories of Georgia
In April 2013, Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg said after meeting with his Georgian counterpart Maia Panjikidze that Russia respected only a state "that is larger" and therefore the Czech Republic could not mediate between Russia and Georgia. As for Georgia’s future with regard to the occupied territories, the Czech Foreign Minister said Georgia should maintain contacts with them. "It is difficult when your territories are occupied, but sometimes you have to wait for years, even decades before the window of possibilities will be opened for you. I do not know when that time will come, but it will necessarily come", he said.
Occupied territories of Georgia
The United States Department of State published The Human Rights Report in 2011 where it is underlined that "de facto" authorities of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are supported by several thousand occupying Russian troops since 2008. The "de facto" Abkhaz authorities restricted the rights of ethnic Georgians to participate in the political process and to exercise basic rights. Since 2008 the "de facto" authorities of South Ossetia have refused to permit ethnic Georgians expelled during and after the 2008 war to return to South Ossetia unless they renounced their Georgian citizenship and accepted a Russian passport. No international party was able to monitor the extent of the Russian military presence. Media in the occupied territories was tightly restricted by the "de facto" authorities and Russian occupying forces.