ID :
27470
Thu, 10/30/2008 - 16:07
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/27470
The shortlink copeid
Russian House cements ties with Georgia's breakaway provinces By Vinay Shukla
Moscow, Oct 29 (PTI) Russian parliament Wednesday
approved crucial treaties cementing close economic and
military ties with Georgia's breakaway provinces of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, which were at the centre of a Caucasus war
between Moscow and Tbilisi.
By an overwhelming vote, the State Duma -- lower house
of the Russian parliament -- Wednesday approved the bilateral
friendship and mutual assistance treaties with provinces of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were recognised by Moscow
after the five-day Caucasus war sparked by Tbilisi's attempt
to regain control of the breakaway provinces.
The treaties signed in September by the Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev with Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh
and South Ossetian president Eduard Kokoity pave the way for
the virtual integration of the Georgian breakaway provinces
with the Russian Federation.
"They envision mutual assistance in the event of
outbreak of armed activity on the part of Georgia and, as a
consequence, the permanent deployment of Russian military
contingents in the two republics," Deputy Chairman of the
Duma's Foreign Policy Committee Leonid Slutsky said.
Following the ratification of the treaties by the
upper house - Federation Council and signing of the instrument
of ratification by President Medvedev, a big package of
ancillary agreements will be signed and they will range from a
joint patrolling of the border to the mechanisms of granting
dual citizenship to people living in these republics, lawmaker
Slutsky added.
The treaties will also make the Russian rouble a legal
currency in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. According to reports
the Russian Federal Borders Service controlled by the former
K.G.B.'s offshoot - F.S.B. security agency - will protect the
frontiers of the breakaway provinces with Georgia.
Russia has underlined that it has fully met its
commitments under a peace deal brokered by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy which obliged Moscow to withdraw its forces
from areas outside Georgia's breakaway provinces. The European
Union had deployed its officials to monitor the Russian
pullout from the embattled area.
The skirmish has strained Russia's relations with
the western world, including the United States and the EU,
which have flayed Moscow for a disproportionate use of force
and its decision to recognise the independence of Georgia's
breakaway provinces.
Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia were incorporated into
the Soviet republic of Georgia in the 1920s as autonomous
republics. However, in the last days of the former U.S.S.R.,
using a Soviet parliamentary notification, both republics
declared independence, resulting in a series of military
conflicts with the central government of Georgia.
The U.N., O.S.C.E. and Russia's peacekeepers had to
intervene to restore peace, which was shattered by Tbilisi's
attempt to regain control of tiny South with the use of
massive force on August 8, evoking Moscow's condemnation by
the West for the 'disproportionate use of force'. PTI VS
PMR
NNNN
approved crucial treaties cementing close economic and
military ties with Georgia's breakaway provinces of Abkhazia
and South Ossetia, which were at the centre of a Caucasus war
between Moscow and Tbilisi.
By an overwhelming vote, the State Duma -- lower house
of the Russian parliament -- Wednesday approved the bilateral
friendship and mutual assistance treaties with provinces of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which were recognised by Moscow
after the five-day Caucasus war sparked by Tbilisi's attempt
to regain control of the breakaway provinces.
The treaties signed in September by the Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev with Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh
and South Ossetian president Eduard Kokoity pave the way for
the virtual integration of the Georgian breakaway provinces
with the Russian Federation.
"They envision mutual assistance in the event of
outbreak of armed activity on the part of Georgia and, as a
consequence, the permanent deployment of Russian military
contingents in the two republics," Deputy Chairman of the
Duma's Foreign Policy Committee Leonid Slutsky said.
Following the ratification of the treaties by the
upper house - Federation Council and signing of the instrument
of ratification by President Medvedev, a big package of
ancillary agreements will be signed and they will range from a
joint patrolling of the border to the mechanisms of granting
dual citizenship to people living in these republics, lawmaker
Slutsky added.
The treaties will also make the Russian rouble a legal
currency in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. According to reports
the Russian Federal Borders Service controlled by the former
K.G.B.'s offshoot - F.S.B. security agency - will protect the
frontiers of the breakaway provinces with Georgia.
Russia has underlined that it has fully met its
commitments under a peace deal brokered by French President
Nicolas Sarkozy which obliged Moscow to withdraw its forces
from areas outside Georgia's breakaway provinces. The European
Union had deployed its officials to monitor the Russian
pullout from the embattled area.
The skirmish has strained Russia's relations with
the western world, including the United States and the EU,
which have flayed Moscow for a disproportionate use of force
and its decision to recognise the independence of Georgia's
breakaway provinces.
Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia were incorporated into
the Soviet republic of Georgia in the 1920s as autonomous
republics. However, in the last days of the former U.S.S.R.,
using a Soviet parliamentary notification, both republics
declared independence, resulting in a series of military
conflicts with the central government of Georgia.
The U.N., O.S.C.E. and Russia's peacekeepers had to
intervene to restore peace, which was shattered by Tbilisi's
attempt to regain control of tiny South with the use of
massive force on August 8, evoking Moscow's condemnation by
the West for the 'disproportionate use of force'. PTI VS
PMR
NNNN
