Thursday, August 16, 2007, #156 (1423)

What's in a name? Tbilisi protests Kremlin references to 'Republic of South Ossetia'

By Ana Datiashvili

Moscow awarded Russian state medals to 12 education workers in secessionist South Ossetia on August 14 for outstanding service, according to a statement on the South Ossetian press service website.

The decree, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, was immediately criticized by Tbilisi officials for reportedly referring to the breakaway, but de jure Georgian region, as the Republic of South Ossetia-a flagrant disregard for international law, Georgian authorities charged.

There was no immediate Russian response, and it was unclear whether Tbilisi officials had seen the wording of the Kremlin's decree, or only the South Ossetian de facto government's report of its contents.

State Minister for Conflict Resolution Davit Bakradze said Russia was "opening Pandora's box" with its implicit political support for the separatist administration.

"Russia is ignoring principles of international law, even at the presidential level," Bakradze said, adding, "We are not objecting to granting our citizens medals and rewards, but there are clarified norms of international law which regulates…references to a neighbor country.

Most South Ossetian residents hold Russian passports, and Russian official statements regularly refer to the Republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, describing their de facto leaders as presidents.

Chair of the parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee Kote Gabashvili called the Russian presidential decree an "ideological trick," which would be a matter of dispute in future talks between Tbilisi and Moscow.

Vladimir Sanakoyev, a spokesperson for the Tbilisi-backed temporary administrative unit for South Ossetia, joined the chorus of condemnation. Putin should know better, he said.

"He was either misled or forced to [say this] prior to the upcoming elections in 2008," Sanakoyev told Rustavi 2.

Political expert Ramaz Sakhvarelidze told the Messenger that this was another Kremlin move to signify its hefty backing for the secessionist regimes.

"The Russian government is showing openly that its policy supports separatists, as well as trying to assert its role in Georgian affairs," Sakhvarelidze said.


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