The Messenger, Georgia
March 23 2007

Lavrov: Kosovo is a precedent…sort of

By Ekaterina Basilaia

Despite the fact that the de facto authorities of Abkhazia, South
Ossetia and Transdnistria say that they have more "moral, legal and
historical" grounds to independence than Kosovo, Russia’s Foreign
Minster Sergey Lavrov stated that Kosovo is not the model for these
breakaway regions, and that if the Serbian province is granted
independence it does not mean these self declared republics will
follow.

"We admit that any decision made about Kosovo’s status will set a
precedent. For the first time, independence will be gained not by
being a component of a former union-member state, as with the case of
Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union [but by a former autonomous
region]," Lavrov stated at the government hour at the Russian State
Duma on March 21, Interfax news agency reported.

"But projection of this situation in respect to Abkhazia, South
Ossetia and Transdnistria will not be a correct step. I repeat there
is no connection. We are not waiting impatiently for Kosovo to be
separated from Serbia so that we will do the same in regard with
these republics. This is not true and this would be an erroneous
position," he added.

Nevertheless, Lavrov went to say that Russia will look after its
citizens in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where most residents hold
Russia passports.

"We are ready to develop all kinds of contacts with these republics.
The people who live there are our citizens. We are responsible for
their social problems because nobody, except us, has been able to do
this so far," he stressed.

Talking about Georgian-Russian relations, Lavrov noted that "Georgia
and Georgia’s leadership are two totally different things."

"The Georgian authorities fail to reflect the mood dominating
Georgian society," Interfax news agency quoted Lavrov as saying.

The Duma’s Deputy Speaker Sergey Baburin said he was satisfied with
Lavrov’s speech, noting that for the first time the foreign minister
of Russia has referred to the territories concerned, not as regions,
but as republics, and spoke about cooperating with these republics on
an official level, directly from the State Duma.

Chair of the Duma committee for CIS affairs Andrey Kokoshin also
expressed his satisfaction with Lavrov’s speech.

"I think that as far as Abkhazia and South Ossetia are concerned, it
is extremely important for us now that a fundamental agreement be
reached between Tskhinvali and Sukhumi on the one hand and Tbilisi on
the other," Kokoshin stated.

The Duma has been intensively pushing for the official recognition of
Georgia’s two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia for a
long time. Last December, with not a vote against, the Duma passed
two statements regarding the two breakaway regions calling for the
Russian government to officially recognise the territories as
independent. They based this call on the results of the ‘independence
referendum’ in South Ossetia and an appeal sent by the parliament of
Abkhazia.

Moscow officials also supported the recent elections in Abkhazia,
saying they "respect" the polls in the region, even though the EU,
NATO, OSCE and UN condemned them.

Meanwhile, the de facto authorities of breakaway Abkhazia and South
Ossetia are demanding Russia "take immediate and decisive steps" to
recognise them, fearing that Georgia’s accession to NATO might
forever thwart their independence aspirations.

"Russia now has a unique and perhaps final chance to preserve its
influence in the South Caucasus – by recognizing Abkhazia and South
Ossetia," de facto Abkhaz foreign minister Sergey Shamba said in an
interview with Russian daily Moskovskiy Komsomolets on March 20.

"Moscow should use the Kosovo precedent and make a decisive step now
because later on
Kosovo’s example will lose its significance. Georgia and Azerbaijan
will become NATO members, Armenia will take after them forcefully and
Russia will loose its control over the region," Shamba added.

"It is time for Russia to take a firm position," de facto South
Ossetian president Eduard Kokoity told Moskovskiy Komsomolets.