Tbilisi Condemns Resumption of Sokhumi-Moscow Railway

Railway connection was resumed between Moscow and Sokhumi, the capital of Georgia?s breakaway Abkhazia, on September 10, despite protest of the Georgian side.
 
The rail link connecting Georgia and Russia was running through Abkhazia and ceased operating after Abkhazia de facto seceded from Georgia in a violent conflict 11 years ago.
 
?By restoration of the railway link, both Moscow and Sukhumi violate all the existing agreements. This is nothing more but disrespect of the country?s [Georgia?s] sovereignty,? Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolutions Goga Khaindrava said on September 10.
 
In March 2003 Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin have agreed to re-open communication between the two countries via Sukhumi, with the Georgian side demanding return of the Georgian displaced persons to Abkhazia’s easternmost Gali region as a necessary precondition.