Russia is going to ensure friendship with Abkhazia and South Ossetia on a military basis.
Photo: AFP
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The Caucasus Pact
// Russia legalized its relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Yesterday the State Duma unanimously voted for ratifying friendship treaties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Moscow, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali make no secret of the fact that the treaties eliminate the last impediment to deploying Russia’s military bases in the two Caucasian republics. The relations of the three parties will focus on military interaction mainly: it is planned to draft and sign agreements for joint border guarding and military cooperation in the near future.
Yesterday Moscow legalized its relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russian MPs followed President Dmitry Medvedev’s request and timely ratified friendship treaties with the republics – the head of state introduced the documents to the lower chamber of the Parliament last week. According to Chairman of the State Duma International Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev, “the treaties are in line with Russia’s national interests, with their wording being the same as in the treaties concluded with other friendly states”.
It need be pointed out that it took the Duma some time to debate the issue – Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin, who presented the treaties in the State Duma, had to listen to several MPs’ recommendations. The most ardent speakers were A Just Russia’s member Semyon Bagdasarov and Deputy Speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky. The former recommended that the executive power should go beyond what it has already achieved and try its best to “confederalize” the rest of Georgia. “We need to confederalize Georgia psychologically, rather than legally, which is not our prerogative. Georgia is a mini-empire, with a lot of ethnic minorities living side by side. Some of them are truly different. We must carry out propaganda campaigns in Georgia and cooperate with local leaders and ethnic minorities. Georgia must resemble Lebanon in the future, which is officially a unitary state, but in reality it is a confederacy, where stability is based on oral agreements between various communities,” Mr Bagdasarov outlined his view.
Vladimir Zhirinovsky stressed a different aspect. He called on the MFA to actively promote the principles suggested by the treaties; otherwise the West will outdo Russia ousting it from Abkhazia and South Ossetia. “NATO and the EU will pay the Abkhaz people Euro-pensions, and the latter will abandon friendship treaties with Russia. They will simply buy Abkhazia, just the way they did in Kosovo. Europe will find the money. It has raised $4 billion, and will find even more funds. Keep in mind, and watch out,” Mr Zhirinovsky told Grigory Karasin.
However, MPs had nothing to worry about. Moscow, which recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia only two months ago, is going to foster concluding additional military agreements following the friendship treaties. According to Grigory Karasin, “target agreements” will be signed in the short run. Those will concern military cooperation, border guarding, double-citizenship issues, and currency regulation. “By the way, the Russian ruble is a legal currency in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Deputy Foreign Minister added.”
Moscow, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali are likely to sign a joint border guarding agreement first of all. According to the document, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) will guard Abkhaz and South Ossetian borders. “We are planning to conclude such agreements with both Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” Andrei Kelin from the Foreign Ministry’s CIS Affairs Department told Kommersant. “The scheme resembles the one we once applied with Armenia. Guarding borders will suggest mutual financing and joint border guarding.” Then the new allies are going to conclude agreements for deploying Russia’s military bases on the territory of the Caucasian republics. “So far we consider that, to ensure security in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, we need to deploy one brigade in each republic, which is some 3800 Russian military men,” Grigory Karasin stated. In South Ossetia, a Russian base may be deployed in the Tskhinvali area. In Abkhazia, it is planned to deploy military bases in Sukhumi and Ochamchira, the republic’s Foreign Office Chief Sergei Shamba told Kommersant. “Those will be naval bases, which is envisioned by the agreement for military cooperation,” Mr Shamba said. “This document’s preparation was not fostered because it was necessary that Russia should ratify friendship agreements first. Now the drafting will be accelerated.”
According to the sources of Kommersant with the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow is going to extend the list of countries which recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia. So far, only Nicaragua is on it, but “work in this direction hasn’t stopped”, a high-ranking diplomat told Kommersant. He said that Venezuela is a potential candidate. By the way, in the near future Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will have an opportunity to express his gratitude for foreign policy support to his Nicaraguan counterpart Samuel Santos Lopez – he arrives in Moscow on Saturday. “There is now renaissance in relations with Nicaragua,” Igor Lyakin-Frolov from the MFA Information and Press Department told Kommersant. “The developments in the Caucasus demonstrated the affinity of our foreign policy approaches.”
Meanwhile Tbilisi stated that Moscow’s line on Abkhazia and South Ossetia “violates international law”. “Primarily, the UN Charter is violated: on the sovereign state’s occupied territory the neighbor legalizes its military presence,” Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze told Kommersant. “The ratification of friendship agreements is evidence that Russia is reluctant to conduct negotiations about settling the crisis in the Caucasus. You cannot have a gun in your right hand, submitting with your left hand documents, which will allegedly bring peace. No one – neither Georgia nor the West – will put up with Russia’s puppets gaining sovereignty.”
In Mr Vashadze’s view, Russia’s current position does harm to Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s national interests. “What investments and development do you mean, when these republics are turned into military bridgeheads?”
Vladimir Solovyov
All the Article in Russian as of Oct. 30, 2008
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