The outcome of the war was the loss of thousands of lives on each side, and hundreds of thousands of refugees. Today, Georgia still hopes to capture Abkhazia, while Abkhazia remains firm in its determination to stay separate from Georgia. According to one war veteran, "Our army is well armed, equipped and trained. We are not afraid of Georgia, and we will not live with Georgia. They can tell NATO what great fighters we are."
Abkhazia is isolated except from Russia which maintains an open border crossing. The railway line to Sukhumi has been re-opened . Practically all Abkhazians have Russian passports. Everyone speaks Russian, admires Russian leader Vladimir Putin, watches Russian TV channels and identifies with everything Russian.
The peace is maintained by UN observers and. Russian peacekeepers. There are sporadic shootings and kidnappings with a potential for violent confrontation never far beneath the surface. Most recently, at least two and maybe four unmanned Georgian military spy planes were shot down. The incidents have led to an increase in Russian peacekeeping forces, something that Georgia has vehemently objected to. The UN mandated peacekeeping force will be increased to approximately 3,000 men.
Georgia has been building up military strength at the border with Abkhazia. The recent enlargement of Russian peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia has "the sole aim of averting any possible bloodshed in Transcaucasia," according to the land forces commander, General of the Army, Alexei Maslov, speaking at a recent meeting in Moscow.
Saakashvilli has closed down media outlets, smashing television equipment and roughing up reporters. He has also arrested opposition leaders. The totalitarian, fascist nature of the Saakashvili regime has been increasingly visible. Since coming to power in November 2003, defense spending has escalated to among the highest in the world, at 22 percent of the budget and 7 percent of gross national product.
A national referendum held on 3rd October 1999, and the Abkhazian Parliament passed an act on the independence of the Republic of Abkhazia on 12 October 1999. A legally viable and democratic state was created, and reforms followed. The values common to mankind: “Liberty, Property, Law” began to prevail.
There is no reason for the international community not to recognize the independence of Abkhazia from Georgia, as Abkhazia was arbitrarily annexed to Georgia and has no historical basis to be a part of Georgia, nor do the people of Abkhazia wish to be a part of Saakashvilli’s criminal and despotic regime. The colonial policy of Georgia towards Abkhazia should be rejected by the international community. Instead of stirring up this cauldron, the US and the international community should be encouraging economic investment and cooperation. The international community can ill afford the hypocrisy denying Abkhazians their independence.
Lisa KARPOVA
PRAVDA.ru
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