Sukhum/Agency Caucasus – The Abkhazian administration rejected an offer from Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to allow Abkhazia ‘unlimited, full federalism within the territorial integrity’ of Georgia.
The Abkhazians have chosen independence, said Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh. "We are determined to keep striving until Abkhazia’s independence gets recognized internationally."
"The independence of Abkhazia is not for sale," said Bagapsh, and said that the Georgian government was not sincere. "Such offers are only aimed at demonstrating Georgia as a peaceful country before the NATO has its summit meeting in Bucharest, the capital of Romania."
"It is pointless mentioning greater autonomy within Georgia. The Georgian president’s offer is against the Abkhazian constitution and the results of a referendum that showed that the majority of Abkhazians voted for independence," said Sergei Shamba, Foreign Minister of Abkhazia. "Before the war, we tried negotiating with the Georgian administration the possibility of federative statehood; however, instead of negotiations, we met the tanks. It is unacceptable for our country to negotiate a past offer."
Shamba also said that negotiations could only be held with the Georgian administration to guarantee that armed force would never be used again in the region.
Saakashvili’s offer came on Friday when he was addressing political scientists and experts in the Strategic Researches Centre in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia. He offered to grant Abkhazia the right to veto the laws that would violate the Abkhazian language, constitution, values and culture.
After the USSR was dissolved, the Abkhazian Parliament tried to negotiate with Georgia its future course of relations, because it was no longer legally tied to Georgia at all. However, instead of negotiating, Georgia chose to launch a war against Abkhazia on August 14, 1992. Abkhazia resisted and won the war on September 30, 1993, with the help of North Caucasian volunteers. The war cost over eight thousand people’s lives, driving the Georgians to leave Abkhazia. In 1994 was signed the Moscow Pact, which led to the deployment of peace force of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). After years of its negotiations with Georgia failed, Abkhazia went to a referendum on its own independence on October 3, 1999. Ninety-eight percent of the Abkhazian people voted for independence. (Agency Caucasus)
