Sukhum/Agency Caucasus – The Abkhazian administration expects Dmitri Medvedev, who has just taken office as the new president of Russia, to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Vladimir Putin, to continue with his country’s warm embrace of Abkhazia and eventually to recognize it as independent.
The Abkhazian officials did not expect to experience a change in their relations with Russia while Medvedev remained in office, said Sergei Shamba, Foreign Minister of Abkhazia, and added that the new administration of Russia would hopefully follow the way that had previously been set by Putin to improve his country’s relations with Abkhazia.
"The new president of Russia will recognize the independence of Abkhazia, because Putin has already laid the groundwork for it," said Shamba. "The new president has only one thing left to do: to take steps resolutely. And we believe that Medvedev will take steps resolutely and recognize our independence as we enter a new era."
Putin lifted last month his country’s economic embargo on Abkhazia and ordered the government to take steps forward in the direction of maintaining improved relations in the fields of economics, society, culture and education with Abkhazia. Now he is himself the leader of the government.
The belief that Medvedev will follow the policies set by his predecessor on Abkhazia receives support from some Abkhazian civilian organizations, too. Nugzar Agrba, Secretary of the United Abkhazia, a political movement, for example, said that Abkhazia would hopefully not be left alone in case it was attacked because "it is paramountly important that Abkhazia should be able to maintain its integration into the international arena." By the same token, Manana Gurguliya, General Director of APSNIPRESS, the state-owned news agency of Abkhazia, expressed his hope that Medvedev would follow Putin’s policies because "he placed significant emphasis on the issues of respecting human rights, civil society development and adherence to democratic values while he made his sworn-in speech, which can be counted on as a hopeful sign." KU/ÖZ/FT
