La Russia aumenta l’appoggio alle regioni separatiste della Georgia
● In risposta alla pressione USA per l’adesione della Georgia alla Nato, e alla dichiarazione di indipendenza del Kosovo,
● decreto del presidente russo uscente, Putin: la Russia intende stabilire relazioni dirette con le due regioni separatiste della Georgia, Abkhazia e Sud Ossezia, già sostenute nei brevi conflitti dopo il crollo dell’Urss, e che hanno un governo autonomo, ma non sono riconosciute come indipendenti da nessun paese.
● Il ministro Esteri della Georgia chiede una sessione straordinaria del C.d.S. ONU per bloccare la politica russa di “annessione strisciante”.
– La maggior parte dei cittadini delle due regioni separatiste hanno la cittadinanza russa;
la maggior parte della diaspora dell’Abkhazia vive in Turchia.
Russia Expands Support for Breakaway Regions in Georgia
By C. J. CHIVERS
MOSCOW — Russia announced Wednesday that it was broadly expanding support for two separatist regions in neighboring Georgia and would establish legal connections with the regions’ de facto governments.
The announcement, made by order of President Vladimir V. Putin, fell short of offering official recognition to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the two breakaway regions, which have had self-rule and intensive Russian support since brief wars with Georgia after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
– But it signaled a comprehensive deepening of ties between the separatist enclaves and Russia, including in trade, agriculture, education, diplomacy and social support. Officials in the region said that in its long-term ambitions, Russia’s enhanced engagement was modeled in part on American support for Taiwan.
– The Georgian government, which has spurned the Kremlin in recent years and tightened relations with the West, reacted with alarm. It called on international support to block what David Bakradze, Georgia’s foreign minister, called Russia’s policy of “creeping annexation.”
– Mr. Bakradze said Georgia would seek a special session of the United Nations Security Council. “We will do everything we can do within diplomatic, political and legal international measures,” he said by telephone, shortly after a session of Georgia’s National Security Council.
The Russian decree underscored a lingering diplomatic dispute from Mr. Putin’s eight years in office and suggested that the Kremlin was seeking to assert itself more fully against Georgia in the weeks before Mr. Putin stepped down. He is scheduled to turn over the presidency next month to a protégé, Dmitri A. Medvedev, who has limited foreign policy experience and, to date, a less confrontational style.
– Russia has supported both enclaves since wars in the 1990s ended in stalemates that created them. Russia’s anger at Georgia intensified in 2003 after Georgia’s so-called Rose Revolution, when protests against a rigged election toppled the government and set the current Georgian government on a westward course.
– No nation recognizes Abkhazia or South Ossetia, which have endured only with Russia’s assistance, and Russia has often tread lightly, offering support while officially staking a position of neutrality. But Russia had threatened to formalize its connections after Kosovo, in defiance of Russia’s opinion and with support from the West, declared its independence from Serbia in February. Russia has also said it will increase its presence in response to Georgia’s efforts to join NATO.
– Wednesday’s decree said that Russian ministries would establish direct relations with their counterparts in the breakaway regions. Mr. Putin also ordered that consular services for residents of the regions be offered from an office just over the border inside Russia; most adults in the enclaves have Russian citizenship, part of the Kremlin’s policy of offering passports to them.
The announcement came as Abkhazia and South Ossetia, emboldened by Kosovo’s declaration, have sought more foreign support. The de facto Abkhaz government has been repairing its long-idled civilian airport and hopes to establish direct air service to Russia and perhaps Turkey, where much of the Abkhaz diaspora lives.
Maksim K. Gvindzhiya, Abkhazia’s deputy foreign minister, said by telephone that he did not expect Russia to recognize the regions formally because it would bring a diplomatic burden on the Kremlin. But he welcomed the growing ties and said he was not concerned about foreign reaction. “The political attitude is less important to us than the practical and economic,” he said.
He added that Russia’s decision left open the possibility of more military collaboration, short of establishing Russian bases or conducting joint exercises. “Support for the Abkhaz military in the form of logistics or ammunition, this is possible,” he said.