The independence hand has been extended to presidents of Abkhazia, left, and South Ossetia.
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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The Sur-Recognition
Russia's Federation Council and State Duma hold emergency sittings today to deliberate on the conflict of Georgia and South Ossetia. The official statements will be made, and given the general sentiment of the PM comments, the lawmakers are likely to recognize independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This move will allow Moscow to retain military presence in both breakaway republics of Georgia. The peacekeepers will be no longer legally able to remain there after the war.
Russia’s parliament may recognize independence of Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia already today, August 25, 2008. The resolutions won’t be binding, as even the joint efforts of upper and lower houses won’t suffice for this purpose.
“This is the exclusive right of president that releases a decree under the presentation of the RF Foreign Ministry,” explained Alexei Ostrovsky, who chairs the State Duma’s Committee for CIS and ties with compatriots. “The State Duma may only specify its standing by passing a respective address to the president,” and this address is likely to appear today, according to Ostrovsky.
Russia has to officially recognize independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to keep its troops there. The thing is that peacekeepers may remain in the conflict area by mutual agreement of both parties. Therefore, the approval of Georgia is vital, but President Mikheil Saakashvili denounced the presence of Russia’s peacekeepers August 12, viewing them as occupants starting from that day.
What’s more, the current status of peacekeepers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia presumes that they are positioned there under the aegis of CIS. But given that Georgia withdrew from CIS, there are no grounds to substantiate their presence.
On the other hand, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has been reiterating that Russia’s peacekeepers will remain in South Ossetia and Abkhazia in any case and there will be no international peacekeeping forces, as the locals don’t trust them. Theoretically, Moscow will be able to implement this scenario provided it recognizes independence of those two republics and inks agreements with their governments for stationing military bases on their territory.
Russia has similar agreements with Kirgizia and Tadjikistan, and the authorities of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have been continuously urging Moscow to station bases there.
At the same time, Moscow harbors no illusions about the global response to this move. “By recognizing independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, we will breach the principle of territorial integrity of sovereign Georgia. Besides, there is the U.N. Security Council resolution on Abkhazia that spells out that the conflict is to be resolved in view of the territorial integrity of Georgia. If Tbilisi goes to law, the proceedings won’t be in our favor,” a well-informed source close to the government said on condition of anonymity.
The defense of Moscow will be based on the acts of genocide that Georgia committed when attacking Tskhinvali. “Russia’s diplomacy has recognized the right of nations for self-determination, but not for self-separation,” the source pointed out. “The separation could happen provided the state commits crimes against the nation… For Kosovo, Russia hasn’t recognized unilateral genocide by the Serbs, but it may play exactly on it in this case.”
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 25, 2008
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