Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has made a special televised appeal to residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He called on the Abkhazians and Ossetians to build a common state and accused Russia of trying to dismember Georgia. Abkhazia and South Ossetia have refused. And Russia has once again stated that it does not intend to start a war, but that it will protect its citizens.
"Our aim is not only to restore territorial integrity, but also to reunify peoples who have lived together for centuries. Today's Georgia offers you a peaceful and secure life, a life without corruption, freedom of choice, an open and successful economy, and peace and extends a brotherly hand," said Saakashvili.
Saakashvili hinted that Russia is to blame for the difficult situation in Georgia and in the unrecognized republics.
He said that he had secured the support of leading international politicians, who have promised not to recognize state formations that go against the will of the Georgian people.
According to the president, the Georgian government has developed a special plan for the peaceful settlement of the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which proposes unlimited autonomy, a Georgian deputy president for ethnic Abkhazians, and the establishment of a joint, free economic zone.
Abkhazia's President Sergey Bagapsh and South Ossetia's President Eduard Kokoity have rejected Saakashvili's call to build a unified state. "The coexistence of Abkhazia and Georgia in a unified state is not possible," Bagapsh said. "In Georgia, they simply cannot understand that we do not need any sham positions in the Georgian government. We have made our choice and will continue our path to independence."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who is currently in Luxembourg, said in response that "Russia does not intend to start a war". On the contrary, everything indicates that "Georgia is nurturing plans for military action in Abkhazia and South Ossetia".
Lavrov promised to pass on to European colleagues documents about the situation in the conflict zones. The documents contain "detailed explanations about Russia's lawful actions with regards to Abkhazia and South Ossetia to prevent the conflicts from again turning into military action, when the bloodshed was stopped at the price of the lives of Russian peacekeepers," ITAR-TASS news agency quotes Lavrov as saying.
The foreign minister said that the number of peacekeepers that Russia plans to send to Abkhazia does not exceed the specified international agreements. Incidentally, until now, he said, the specified number of peacekeepers "was not fully employed".
The EU is naturally concerned about the situation in Abkhazia, admitted Benita Ferrero-Waldner, a member of the European Commission. But, as always happens with the EU, it wants to control the situation but cannot understand the complicated nature of politics in the former Soviet republics.
Evgeniya Novikova
Photo: Reuters
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