We must be able to separate Russia’s problems with Abkhazia from the Russian-Georgian track, said Caucasus expert Sergei Markedonov, commenting on the worsening relations between Moscow and Sukhum.
In late August and early September, an active “movement” began in the Abkhaz blogosphere, Markedonov recalled. The focus was on a certain material called “the minutes of a meeting of the deputy head of the presidential administration of Russia.” Dmitry Kozak and the President of Abkhazia Aslana Bzhania“The interest it aroused was so great that it became the main source of news at the briefing of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic. Sergei Shamba.
“Sergei Mironovich is one of the heavyweights of Abkhaz politics and, perhaps, the most experienced negotiator. Since May 1997, he has been heading the Foreign Ministry for the third time. Shamba is a person accustomed to weighing every word and resolving difficult crisis situations. I will make two important caveats. I will not retell the content of the briefing. I will also not conduct an analysis of the conspiracy sources of the so-called protocols, the authenticity of which has not yet been officially confirmed by anyone. Let us consider the dry residue,” – writes Markedonov.
Shamba confirmed that failure to fulfil the obligations assumed by the Abkhaz side may lead to certain sanctions from Moscow. According to him, “since 1 September, funding for some payments has been suspended, this applies to doctors, teachers, law enforcement agencies, etc.”
“Russian-Abkhaz relations are a partnership between players of different weight categories. This thesis does not mean that some of them are a priori good and others bad. But what for the Russian Federation is not even a question of the top ten priority issues, for Abkhazia it is the foundation of the foundations, which sometimes affects not only the problems of “economic entities”, but also identity issues. As a result, there is a need for extreme sensitivity and tact in relation to the “small” partner. “The reel is small, but expensive!” says Russian popular wisdom. If it were not for “these stubborn and headstrong Abkhazians” (as they are sometimes called in other high positions of the capital of our Motherland), perhaps NATO expansion in the Transcaucasus would not have been frozen at a certain moment. And this stubbornness is not only “regionalism” and “purochialism”, but the historical experience of the last century and a half. And so, when you hear something about “Mahajirism” and “the curse of the 17/18%,” do not rush to talk about how “they do not understand your happiness,” but first show at least a little empathy. It will pay off a hundredfold later.” – the Caucasian expert called.
Yes, Markedonov noted, Abkhazia will never follow the path of development without Russian investment, education and technology. Without deep integration with the Russian Federation and its “openness” to Great Russia, it will forever remain stuck in the “dashing nineties.” Moscow’s security guarantees are the most important part of Abkhazia’s strategic choice. But this is only one side of the coin, the expert stressed.
“The other is that an accelerated open-door policy can increase distrust in the main strategic partner. And this is not at all what we all need in the current conditions, both domestic and international. I myself have something to criticize both the Abkhaz government and the opposition, officials and social activists. There are problems with the narrowness of planning horizons and the lack of strategy. But we have no other partners in this part of the extremely important and extremely necessary blue Black Sea, we need to strengthen cooperation and not create problems from scratch in order to be able to solve them later. It is advisable to understand certain realities of this republic, which is not at all like the average citizen of the Russian Federation.” – said Markedonov.
He also called for separating Russian-Abkhaz relations from Russian-Abkhaz relations.
“And last but not least. Sometimes, watching the next wave of conspiracy theories about the “geopolitical agreement between Moscow and Tbilisi,” I wonder: what year is it? Is it not 1992? Or 1993? Given the broad strategic perspective of Transcaucasia, it is necessary to be able to separate the problems of the Russian Federation with Abkhazia from the Russian-Georgian track. And it is not naive to believe that one law on foreign agency will be enough to turn the entire regional geopolitics upside down. The prudent Sergei Shamba stated at his briefing that it is necessary to think about improving relations between Moscow and Sukhum. It is important to understand that this task is the responsibility of both the Abkhazians and us, the Russians.” – said the Caucasus expert.
