The FINANCIAL — The Russian parliament's upper house voted unanimously on August 25 in favor of recognizing the independence of two breakaway Georgian regions that sparked Russia's first foreign incursion since the Soviet era.
According to Ria Novosti, senators said that after Georgia's act of military aggression against South Ossetia, which also reignited the conflict with Abkhazia, Georgia has lost the moral right to seek control of the breakaway provinces.
“Today we are faced with, I'm not afraid to say, a historic decision, to call upon the president of the Russian Federation to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,'' Sergei Mironov, the speaker of the upper house, said in an address to lawmakers in Moscow on August 25. Recognizing the two regions would ensure their “security'' after Georgia committed “genocide'' in South Ossetia, Mironov said, Bloomberg reports.
Bloomberg announces that the Federation Council voted 130-0 to recognize both regions. The lower chamber of Russia's parliament, the State Duma, is also voting later on August 25 on asking President Dmitry Medvedev Aug. 25 to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia, regions that broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s. A Georgian operation on Aug. 7 to retake South Ossetia led to a Russian invasion and Russia stationing soldiers in security zones disputed by Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili after a cease- fire accord.
According to Ria Novosti, speaking in the Federation Council before the vote on August 25, South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said: "I am asking Russia to recognize South Ossetia as an independent and sovereign state."
Kokoity flew out to Moscow on Aug. 23 to deliver his republic's appeal for recognition, approved by the separatist parliament on August 24.
"What the Georgian leadership has done in South Ossetia can only be described as a Caucasus Stalingrad," Kokoity said.
Abkhazia's president said the two self-proclaimed republics can never be under Georgian control.
Ria Novosti announces that Russia retaliated with an operation to "force Georgia to peace" which was concluded on August 12. Georgia's ally the United States, along with other Western powers, accused Moscow of disproportionate use of force, and NATO froze ties with Russia last week.
“It is yet another other escalation of the geo-political tensions in central and eastern Europe and is likely to further worsen the relationship between Russia and the West,'' said Lars Christensen, Head of Emerging Markets Research at Danske Bank in Copenhagen, Bloomberg reports.
Ria Novosti announces that Moscow has now withdrawn most its troops from Georgia, but left some personnel at checkpoints on key roads, saying they are needed to deter further bloodshed and protect South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Last week, after a conversation with Mr. Medvedev, Mr. Sarkozy said Russia would face "serious consequences" if the troops weren't withdrawn as per the six-point plan. The president of France — which holds the rotating presidency of the EU — had said the first measure he would take in retaliation should the Russians not comply would be to call a special EU meeting. Later, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned that Russia could face a deterioration of relations with Europe, Moscow's largest trading partner, including ties involving energy, Russia's main export, Wall Street Journal reports.
Bloomberg reports that the Russia-Georgia conflict broke out on Aug. 7-8 when Georgian troops tried to retake South Ossetia. A Russian counter-offensive pushed into Georgia proper, crossing its main east-west highway and nearing an oil pipeline from Azerbaijan.
Russian troops also moved into Western Georgia from Abkhazia, another breakaway region on the Black Sea. Hundreds of people were killed, tens of thousands displaced and housing and infrastructure wrecked in the fighting.
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