... aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Andrey Kortunov:
The Liberal Project and Its Relevance for Armenia
Nagorno-Karabakh is the latest example, as most of the ethnic quarrels in the South Caucasus are still ongoing since 1991, with Abkhazia and South Ossetia remaining
de facto
[
1
] independent from Georgia, while only one of the three recognized countries (Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan), Armenia, has managed to join a supranational framework [
2
].
In over three decades, the political-economic context of the region has deteriorated with a continuous ...
... comprises the internationally recognized borders of Georgia today. Since 1800, Russia dominated the country and has been nearly the sole major outside actor involved in these ethnic conflicts, and in recent years has acted to allow both Abkhazia and South Ossetia to become de facto independent from Georgia and to become de facto parts of the Russian Federation. After the period of the rule of the Czars over the Russian Empire ended, the ethnic minorities in Georgia competed for favor and power to be bestowed from the Soviet Union’s governing ...
... under South Ossetia’s and Russia’s control. The military and political situation is generally different now. Russia’s military forces have been deployed officially and openly in South Ossetia. When borderisation, i.e. strengthening the South Ossetia-Georgia borders, started several years ago, South Ossetia became, as they say, “a tough nut to crack”. In military terms, South Ossetia will be hard to crash, unless the West lends a “helping” hand. I don’t think that the ...
... Dagomys Agreement of 1992 (which established the Joint Control Commission) obsolete. Russia, which recognized the independence of South Ossetia, launched an initiative to transform the OSCE Mission and to create on its basis two separate missions (one in Georgia and another in South Ossetia). However, other members of the OSCE insisted on the “territorial integrity” of Georgia and on the continued work of the previous Mission. See:
http://ria.ru/trend/osce_mission
Similarly, after Russia recognized Abkhazia's independence,...
... elections. And we are trying to do that too. But improving relations is a two-way street.
Interviewed by RIAC blogger Leila Machavariani.
[1]
Setting up barriers (fences and barbed wire) on the “borders” between the Tskhinvali Region (South Ossetia) and Georgia.
... citizenship and facilitating the procedure of obtaining the Abkhaz citizenship, have been viewed differently. I do not think that, in South Ossetia, the issue of dual citizenship will be perceived negatively. The problem is that before the armed conflict with Georgia in the early 1990s, Ossetians were in the majority in South Ossetia while the Abkhazians were a minority in Abkhazia, accounting for 17 percent of the population, while Ossetians make up more than 60 percent of the population in South Ossetia.
In any case, the conclusion of this agreement should not be viewed ...
... Russian Federation and other countries in the region, including Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
RD: How efficient is the format of Geneva international discussions on security and stability matters in the South Caucasus, with equal participation of Abkhazia, Georgia, South Ossetia, Russia, and the United States in the collective co-presidency of the EU, the UN and the OSCE?
G.K.:
This format will turn five on October 15, 2013. This is a small anniversary and an occasion to sum up the initial results. At present, the ...
Russia and Georgia’s clash over South Ossetia happened five years ago, but today it feels like an age away. Much has changed since then in Georgia and Russia, as well in all the countries that were indirectly involved in the conflict.
Georgia was the first post-Soviet republic to engage ...
