Shamba: “Abkhazia Is Not Occupied Territory and It Is Not Going to Return within Georgia”
June 25, 2010
“Abkhazia is not going to return within Georgia. It is not occupied territory and state strategy prepared by Temur Iakobashvili (state minister of Georgia for reintegration) is not for us,” said de-facto prime-minister of Abkhazia Sergei Shamba.
“We have expressed our opinions about the document “State Strategy about Occupied Territories” several times. This strategy has nothing to do with the republic of Abkhazia,” said Sergei Shamba and added that Abkhazia and Georgia have nothing in common.
“Georgia and we have different goals. Abkhaz people are not going to return to Georgia. They have already expressed their will at the referendum. Abkhazia has already gained international recognition though partly so far but it is not occupied territory. We were occupied in 1992-1993 but then we won the war,” said Sergei Shamba in his interview with Abkhaz media sources.
The prime-minister said that the agreements between Russia and Abkhazia were signed and Russian army is deployed in Abkhazia legally. They guarantee military security and stability in the region.
“I think all statements, strategy and plans about the reintegration of Abkhazia into Georgia are absurd. This program is absolutely unreal and the main purpose of it is to get money from naïve European people for next Georgian adventure. It cannot result into anything else,” said Shamba. He added that Abkhazia does not intend to cooperate with Georgia based on the strategy.
“It is enough to read the preamble of the strategy and you will realize that it is nonsense. One more mistake of this strategy, alongside many others, is that it isolates Abkhazia from the entire world while it is open for Georgia. We are not going to cooperate only with Georgia. We want to be open for the entire world,” said Sergei Shamba and added that Abkhazia has its strategy according to which they want to cooperate with every neighboring country and Georgia is among them. Of course, it will happen only when it is possible; when Georgia will not consider Abkhazia to be occupied territory and its part.
“We have expressed our opinions about the document “State Strategy about Occupied Territories” several times. This strategy has nothing to do with the republic of Abkhazia,” said Sergei Shamba and added that Abkhazia and Georgia have nothing in common.
“Georgia and we have different goals. Abkhaz people are not going to return to Georgia. They have already expressed their will at the referendum. Abkhazia has already gained international recognition though partly so far but it is not occupied territory. We were occupied in 1992-1993 but then we won the war,” said Sergei Shamba in his interview with Abkhaz media sources.
The prime-minister said that the agreements between Russia and Abkhazia were signed and Russian army is deployed in Abkhazia legally. They guarantee military security and stability in the region.
“I think all statements, strategy and plans about the reintegration of Abkhazia into Georgia are absurd. This program is absolutely unreal and the main purpose of it is to get money from naïve European people for next Georgian adventure. It cannot result into anything else,” said Shamba. He added that Abkhazia does not intend to cooperate with Georgia based on the strategy.
“It is enough to read the preamble of the strategy and you will realize that it is nonsense. One more mistake of this strategy, alongside many others, is that it isolates Abkhazia from the entire world while it is open for Georgia. We are not going to cooperate only with Georgia. We want to be open for the entire world,” said Sergei Shamba and added that Abkhazia has its strategy according to which they want to cooperate with every neighboring country and Georgia is among them. Of course, it will happen only when it is possible; when Georgia will not consider Abkhazia to be occupied territory and its part.
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