Russian Press Review on Abkhazia

The Russian press is  keeping a watchful eye on the developments in Abkhazia, as the post-election crisis in the unrecognized republic remains deadlocked more than one month after the October 3 elections. The daily Kommersant says that opposition leader Sergey Bagapsh’s main rival has now become Abkhaz Prime Minister Nodar Khashba, as the pro-governmental presidential candidate Raul Khajimba is gradually being forced “out of the game.” The Nezavisimaya Gazeta, for its part, is focusing on the speculations that a secret meeting allegedly took place in early November between the Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze and Sergey Bagapsh in Moscow.

In an article publish on November 19 the Kommersant daily focuses on the fact that following the Abkhaz Interior Ministry’s defiance to Prime Minister, the Parliament also supported opposition leader Sergey Bagapsh. On November 18 the Parliament condemned the dismissal of pro-opposition General Prosecutor of Abkhazia Rauf Karua, who was fired by President Ardzinba.

“Meanwhile, Abkhaz militaries have announced their “neutral position” and confirmed their loyalty to the current President [Vladislav Ardzinba],” the Kommersant says and further quotes Abkhaz Deputy Defense Minister Gari Kupalba as saying: “We have one Commander-in-Chief – the President. We have no right to be involved in politics.”

“Moscow’s favorite [candidate] Raul Khajimba [a pro-governmental presidential candidate] is gradually being forced out of the game. As a result, an official of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations, Nodar Khashba, who is the Abkhaz Prime Minister, becomes Sergey Bagapsh’s main rival at the moment. Currently Khashba’s government is located at one of the sanatoriums outside Sokhumi, as the capital is controlled by supporters of the opposition. The Governmental and Presidential Guard is in charge of the security of this sanatorium. According to some reports, the sanatorium is also guarded by the soldiers from the Russian peacekeeping contingent,” the Kommersant reports.

The paper also focuses on Russia’s decision to impose restrictions on its border with Abkhazia, which is a clear sign of pressure on the Abkhaz opposition. The Kommersant quotes an unnamed representative of Sergey Bagapsh as saying that “no one will get any results from this kind of pressure on the Abkhaz people.”

Another daily, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta, points out that rumors about an alleged secret meeting between the Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze and the Abkhaz opposition leader Sergey Bagapsh in Moscow in early November might be a blow for Bagapsh, who is constantly being criticized by his opponents for a suspected “pro-Georgian stance,” owing in part to the fact that his wife is ethnically Georgian.

“An investigation by the Nezavisimaya Gazeta has revealed that none of the sides, not even opponents of Bagapsh, could confirm the fact that a meeting really took place. Bagapsh seemed dumbfounded when he learned about this report,” the Nezavisimaya Gazeta says.

“It’s so dirty,” the paper quoted Bagapsh. “It seems that a myth about my “pro-Georgian” stance has been created because of my [Georgian] wife was not enough [evidence],” he added. The Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported that Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze also denied that she had met with Bagapsh.

A statement by the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Georgia Heidi Tagliavini came into focus in the Izvestia daily. “The UN Observers Mission in Georgia is not interested in destabilizing the situation in Abkhazia. But neither the UN Security Council nor the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary-General on Georgia had intentions of enforcement of chapter 7 of the UN Charter [refering to peace enforcement measures],” the Izvestia quotes Ambassador Tagliavini.

The Izvestia interpreted the resent statement by the Georgian Foreign Ministry urging the UN and the international community to condemn Russia’s involvement in Abkhazian developments as a hint by Tbilisi about the necessity “to change the UN mission’s mandate in the conflict zone from the current Chapter 6, envisaging peace support, into Chapter 7.”