Deputy speaker of the Federation Council of Russia Svetlana Orlova spoke evasively about the possibility of South Ossetia and Abkhazia becoming part of Russia.
Photo: Alexander Miridonov
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Russians Divided into Peacekeepers and Pacifists
The majority of Russians, 72 percent, think the country should ignore Georgian demands and not withdraw its peacekeeping forces from South Ossetia, a survey taken by the All-Russia Center for the Study of Public Opinion taken August 10-13 has found. Only 14 percent want the peacekeepers to be withdrawn. The pollsters found that public opinion consolidated at the beginning of the week, and the vast majority of Russians sympathize with the South Ossetians and approve of Russia’s operation to enforce peace in Georgia.
Legislators are no less concerned about the South Ossetians. The Federation Council coordinating committee for the provision of aid to the victims of the humanitarian catastrophe there met yesterday. Deputy speaker of the Federation Council Svetlana Orlova stated that all subjects of the federation have prepared aid and the main task for the senators is coordinating their efforts.
The senators recalled the building of the Baikal-Amur railroad in the 1970 and the reconstruction of Tashkent after the earthquake of 1966 as they spoke of the efforts on the behalf of South Ossetia. First deputy chairman of the Federation Council Budget Committee Vladimir Germanenko asked journalists not to refer to the breakaway regions as “unrecognized republics,” but simply as South Ossetia and Abkhazia. “They’ll be independent states any way,” he assured the press.
When asked about the possibility of those republics becoming part of the Russian Federation, Orlova answered that “If the corresponding document is submitted to the Federation Council, we will examine and discuss it. I think the senators will make the right decision.” That document could only be submitted by the State Duma. The lower house will not “force the decision,” however, head of the Duma public relations department and deputy secretary of the presidium of the United Russia Party general council Yury Shuvalov stated yesterday. According to the law “On the Procedure for the Acceptance of a New Subject of the RF into the Russian Federation,” Russia can accept “a foreign state or a part of one,” but the Russian president must “conclude an agreement with the foreign state,” in this case, Georgia.
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All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 15, 2008
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