Group items tagged

Abkhazia and South Ossetia are two breakaway republics in the Caucasus with disputed status over whether they are a part of Georgia or sovereign states.[1] The Republic of Abkhazia and the Republic of South Ossetia were recognised following the 2008 South Ossetia War between Russia and Georgia

South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia during the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War on 29 May 1992, with its Constitution referring to the "Republic of South Ossetia".[6][7][8] Abkhazia declared its independence after its war with Georgia in 1992–1993. Its Constitution was adopted on 26 November 1994.[9][10

Kosovo's declaration of independence on 17 February 2008 and its divided international acceptance prompted speculation that there could be implications for the frozen South Caucasus situation.

The current situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia bears no resemblance or moral equivalence to Kosovo's declaration of independence in February 2008.

The near-universal support for Kosovar independence stands in sharp contrast to the unilateralism exercised by Moscow over South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Kosovo's independence was gained through the U.N. process with prior consultation and widespread unity.

When the majority of the European Union and the United States recognized Kosovo's independence, they acknowledged that such independence was the result of tough, tragic, violent, and unique circumstances.

President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia warned the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, on Friday that Georgia’s joining NATO would deepen the conflict between the former Soviet states.

Mr. Medvedev told Mr. Saakashvili that his quest for NATO membership would not help resolve the simmering tensions in the separatist Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Russia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia can place military bases on each other’s territories,” Lavrov said.

the Russian military contingent will consist of 3800 people in each republic.

Now, a list of 39 countries that recognize the republic is posted on the president’s website. Neither Nicaragua nor Russia is on the list. They are the only countries to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

A second argument is that Abkhazia and “South Ossetia” declared their independence after a mass ethnic cleansing of hundreds of thousands of Georgians, and other ethnicities had artificially changed the demographic composition of the two regions. Russia’s military presence in those territories both before and after the war as well as the absence of proper international peace mechanisms have prevented the majority Georgian population from returning home. While in Kosovo the very purpose of the international mission was to help the Kosovar Albanians to return safely, hundreds of thousands of Georgians have not been allowed to go back to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. Thus, unlike Kosovo, the de-facto authorities in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali do not represent the majority of the lawful residents in those territories but are merely puppet regimes whose declarations have no legitimacy. Recognizing the independence of the occupied territories would just legitimize the use of ethnic cleansing as a device to change international borders.The ethnic cleansing of Georgians has been officially recognized by the UN General Assembly, by the OSCE in 1994, 1996 and 1999 during its Budapest, Lisbon and Istanbul summits, and by several individual states. Paragraph 17 of the 1999 OSCE Istanbul Summit Document states: “We reiterate our strong condemnation as formulated in the Budapest and Lisbon Summit Documents of the ‘ethnic cleansing’ resulting in mass destruction and expulsion of predominantly Georgian population in Abkhazia, Georgia.”

The Russian parliament's upper house ratified agreements on Wednesday concluded last year with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, under which Moscow will set up military bases in the breakaway republics. The treaties allow Russia to operate military bases Abkhazia and South Ossetia for an initial term of 49 years, with possible extensions for an additional 15 years

Georgia's Foreign Ministry described the move as an unlawful and irresponsible legitimization of the Russian military presence in the separatist regions

WITH a flourish, Russia this week recognised the “independ

ence” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the enclaves that gave it a casus belli for its war on Georgia

The Russians saw it as a logical outcome of their victory, a further stage in their confrontation with the West—and a copy of what happened in Kosovo. As Russia’s president, Dmitry Medvedev, argued, “you cannot have one rule for some and another rule for others.”

Of course, one can argue that the territorial integrity of Georgia, Azerbaijan and Moldova has already been recognized by many international organizations and by the majority of states in the world. The UN Security Council, notably, adopted many resolutions affirming the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia and Azerbaijan.47 That is why one could conclude that this standpoint reflects already the position of the international community, according to which the secession of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh has not been recognized (apart from Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and Nauru in Abkhazia’s and S. Ossetia’s case).

The Court did not state in the Opinion that Kosovo through its declaration of independence effectively seceded from Serbia and thus the new state of “Kosovo” emerged. As it did not call into question the validity of UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999), which legitimizes the presence of international territorial administration in Kosovo, one can conclude that this resolution is still in force until a new resolution is adopted by the Council. In fact, according to this resolution, Kosovo shall only be given substantial autonomy within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia). Hence it can be stated that, from a legal point of view, Kosovo still can be seen as part of Serbia.

To avert that nightmare scenario, Russia did not hesitate to use brute force to smash the Chechen independence movement. Yet the subsequent decision to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia might present Russia with uneasy contradictions in foreign policy.

Western leaders have condemned Russia's decision, which has sparked fears of a new Cold War. U.S. President George W. Bush said in a statement on Tuesday: "Russia's action only exacerbates tensions and complicates diplomatic negotiations."

The former province of Georgia will be absorbed into Russia, declared Trazan Kokoity, deputy speaker of South Ossetia's parliament in Tskhivali, only three days after Russia recognized the Georgian breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to be independent states,

Eduard Kokoity, South Ossetia's leader, said during talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that it would become part of Russia within "several years,"

However, the confrontation between Russia and Georgia still remains a big issue. The diplomatic ties between the two countries have not been restored. As a matter of fact, Russia and Georgia still remain in a state of war with each other. Georgia strongly refuses to conduct any talks with S. Ossetia and Abkhazia.

On July 14, 2009, the Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, made a surprise visit to breakaway South Ossetia, inspecting a new Russian military base there and promising citizens that Russia would rebuild neighborhoods destroyed during the brief war between Russia and Georgia

the recognition is to provide security for its own citizens in the region, and the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russia

As the Georgian military launched an attack against South Ossetia, the U.S. threw its full support behind Georgia and accused Russia of a disproportionate response.

Meanwhile, ignoring Russia’s warnings, western countries rushed to recognise Kosovo’s illegal declaration of independence from Serbia. We argued consistently that it would be impossible, after that, to tell the Abkhazians and Ossetians (and dozens of other groups around the world) that what was good for the Kosovo Albanians was not good for them. In international relations, you cannot have one rule for some and another rule for others.