Tbilisi/Agency Caucasus – After Russia decided to send off additional troops to the border of Abkhazia and Ossetia, Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili issued a call to combine Abkhazia and South Ossetia under one single statehood so that joint action against the common enemy might be possible.
While Saakashvili ordered his country’s military presence to be increased along its border to Abkhazia and South Ossetia on the one hand, he said that Georgia would not permit any kinds of military fighting to take place on the other hand.
Saakashvili reiterated his proposal to allow both Abkhazia and South Ossetia an extended version of autonomy, a free economic zone and functionality as vice presidency. He further said that his administration would abide by the peaceful policies of resolution: "All of us–the Georgians, Abkhazians, Ossetians and people from other nationalities–seek to have normal standards of living. Our duty is to live in peace and avoid fighting."
‘Never mind’
Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia refused to accept Saakashvili’s televised proposal. Sergei Bagapsh, President of Abkhazia, said that his country did not need to be part of Georgia’s administration, because Abkhazia made its choice and would remain resolute in its pursuit of independence. Eduard Kokoiti, President of South Ossetia, said that they had been exposed to genocidal treatment when they had once been part of Georgia. He also reiterated the point that his people made their choice and his administration would remain steadfast in its pursuit of the Ossetians’ independence. RE/KU/ÖZ/FT
