Focus Information Agency: Abkhazia Calls On West To Recognize Its Independence
posted by circassiankama on July, 2009 as Abkhazia
Abkhazia calls on west to recognise its independence
19 юли 2009 | 02:46
London/Sukhumi.
Abkhazia, the separatist region of Georgia, has urged the west to
recognise its independence arguing that it will never again submit to
Tbilisi and that international isolation could push it further into the
arms of Russia, The Financial Times reports.
In the countdown to the anniversary of Russia's short war with Georgia
over the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Sergei
Bagapsh, the president of Abkhazia, told the Financial Times his
government's main goal was to create an "independent state".
Russia recognised the two breakaway Georgian regions as sovereign
states after a war with Georgia last August, fulfilling the dream
pursued by separatists through almost 20 years of conflict.
Western governments condemned the move as a violation of Georgia's
territorial integrity. No country except Nicaragua has followed Russia
in recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia, leaving the regions isolated
from the rest of the world.
Mr Bagapsh ruled out reintegration with Georgia. "That is out of the
question. Everyone must forget about it - Georgia and the west and all
the others."
Russia has established a military base in Abkhazia and taken control of
the picturesque region's borders since the war, gaining a strategic
foothold in the south Caucasus. It has also established closer links
with the Abkhaz economy, winning control of the railways and airport
and rights to explore for oil in the Abkhaz Black Sea.
Mr Bagapsh justified the growing Russian presence saying no other
country "was interested in us", but pledged to defend Abkhazia's
statehood. "We will support Russia, but there is no question of
unifying with Russia," he said.
Sergei Shamba, the Abkhaz foreign minister, said a raft of co-operation
agreements being negotiated with Russia would lay the foundations for
Abkhazia's economic revival, albeit at the expense of competition.
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