Russia says relations with Abkhazia are among its foreign policy “priorities”

MADRID 18 Nov. () –

The Russian authorities have affirmed this Monday that the republic of Abkhazia, ‘de facto’ independent from Georgia with the support of Moscow, is among the “priorities” of the Russian Government in terms of foreign policy.

This was expressed by the Kremlin spokesman, Dimitri Peskov, who indicated that bilateral relations are an “important priority”, words with which he made reference to the growing tensions experienced in Abkhazia since Friday, when numerous protesters summoned by The opposition broke into Parliament to demand the resignation of the president, Aslan Bzhania.

“We are in favor of the situation being normalized as quickly as possible in the republic and developing along constitutional lines,” Peskov stressed after the Foreign Ministry said on Friday that it was approaching the events with “concern.”

The increase in tension stems from an agreement reached with Russia that favors Russian investment in Abkhazia, legislation that must be ratified by Parliament. The opposition maintains that its implementation would cause an increase in housing prices and poses a risk to small and medium-sized businesses in Abkhazia, which would also be more affected by Russia’s influence.

Thus, he has warned that controversial legislation only responds to pressure exerted from Moscow, which previously suspended some of its subsidies to the region.

On Saturday, the president of Abkhazia agreed to resign when protesters leave Parliament and has stressed that he will not resort to violence to restore normality.

Georgia and Russia had a brief war over South Ossetia and the region of Abkhazia in 2008. After the conflict ended, Moscow, whose forces prevailed, recognized both regions as independent countries, although the vast majority of countries have not done so. fact and the Georgian Government continues to consider them autonomous regions under its own sovereignty.

Currently, Russian and Abkhazian militaries guarantee security in the region, which has members of the Russian Federal Security Service to guard the border areas.

The president of Georgia, Salomé Zurabishvili, has denounced over the last year a series of attempts by Russia to annex Georgian territories located in the separatist region.