Agency Caucasus – South Ossetia’s President Eduard Kokoity dismissed his former statement on September 11 that he would like to join the Russian Federation as being misunderstood.Kokoity made it clear that his country would neither give up its ideal of independence nor be willing to be within the Russian Federation. “It seems like I am completely misunderstood. We have never considered giving up our ideal of independence for which lots of South Ossetian people lost their lives,” Kokoity said.
“Yes, many people in South Ossetia have already voiced their opinion about uniting with North Ossetia, a region already within the Russian Federation. And nobody can ban such opinions from being expressed out loud. South Ossetia does not consider being part of Russia; on the contrary, it seeks to establish international relations in accord with what the international law says… We are grateful to Russia for saving us; and we intend to maintain the strongest international relations with Russia. We are hoping that if South Ossetia is allowed to join the Union of Russia and Belarus , it will be easier for us to do what we want to do…”
Abkhazia’s President Sergei Bagapsh also said that his country would like to join the Union of Russia and Belarus. He added that his country would like to enjoy accession to the Collective Security Treaty Organization as well as to the Commonwealth of Independent States, or CIS.
The Union of Russia and is a supranational entity consisting of the and the
The Collective Security Treaty Organization, or CSTO, was founded in 2002 when the Presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan signed a charter in
The CIS is a regional organization whose participating countries are former
KU/ÖZ/HT
