Georgia: Russia Recognizes South Ossetia, Abkhazia
Following a vote in the Russian parliament to recognize the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia, the BBC reports that the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, has formerly done so and signed decrees to that effect. The Guardian says that the move has obviously not been greeted well by the United States, United Kingdom and France.
Georgia swiftly condemned Medvedev’s declaration, saying that Russian recognition of the two separatist regions amounted to annexation of Georgian territory.
“This is an unconcealed annexation of these territories, which are a part of Georgia,” said Giga Bokeria, Georgia’s deputy foreign minister.
Britain also rejected Russia’s move, saying that Russia was acting against UN security council resolutions.
“We reject this categorically and reaffirm Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” a spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said. “This is contrary to obligations that Russia has repeatedly taken on in (UN) security council resolutions. It does nothing to improve the prospects for peace in the Caucasus.”
France said it regretted Russia’s decision and the French foreign ministry reiterated France’s commitment to Georgia’s territorial integrity. France, the current holder of rotating presidency of the EU has called a meeting of EU leaders on Monday to discuss the crisis.
But there was jubilation in Abkhazia where people fired into the air, opened bottles of champagne and wept with joy. In Sukhumi, Abkhazia’s capital on the Black Sea coast, office workers spilled into the streets moments after Medvedev made his announcement.
“We feel happy. We all have tears in our eyes. We feel pride for our people,” Aida Gubaz, a 38-year-old lawyer, told Reuters. “Everything we went through, now we are getting our reward.
There were similar scenes in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia where a Reuters photographer heard celebratory gunfire on the city’s outskirts.
[…]
Georgian and Russian forces were locked in a standoff in the village of Mosabruni near the edge of South Ossetia, about 30 miles northwest of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
“We are afraid our children will be killed,” a Georgian villager, Iza Mikhanishvili, 31, told a reporter. “There are Georgian forces on one side, Ossetians on the other. Yes, they are peacekeepers, but we are afraid every single night that something will happen. The only thing we want is peace. I don’t care who we are with.”
In Armenia the move is likely to be greeted with enthuiasm given its own frozen conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno Karabakh to consider. However, despite strong ties with Moscow, it is unclear whether it too would recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia given a reliance on Georgia as the main trade conduit to the outside world.
- Published:
- 08.26.08 / 6pm by Onnik
- Category:
- Armenia, Georgia, Military, Nagorno Karabakh, News Briefs, Russia, United Kingdom, United States
7 Comments
Jump to comment form | comments rss [?] | trackback uri [?]