Mission impossible: “peaceful deoccupation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia is doomed to failure

The flame of political passions, fanned by waves of television channels, is once again blazing over the capital of Georgia. This time, the reason for another emotional outburst of the Georgian public was the message that Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili ordered the creation of a state commission, which by the end of the year would have to develop a strategy for “peaceful conflict resolution.” We are talking about the former Georgian autonomies, and now independent and sovereign states - Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

According to Garibashvili, the new government commission will be headed by Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani. The head of Georgian diplomacy has already promised that the approach to the issue will be comprehensive, and in the process, in addition to government institutions, representatives of civil society, research and analytical centers, non-governmental organizations and citizens affected by conflicts will also be involved.

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“When the region is in a dire situation and our country is faced with new and more complex geopolitical challenges, and the humanitarian situation in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region is deteriorating, it is extremely important that our policy is proactive and we take even more effective, concrete steps. It is in the new de-occupation strategy that all these main directions will be reflected,” Zalkaliani said.

This is where the head of Georgian diplomacy is simply disingenuous. While trumpeting to the whole world about the “difficult” humanitarian situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and throwing stones at someone else’s – independent and sovereign garden, it would not hurt him to look around and see the plight of the population living in large cities of Georgia – Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Rustavi and Batumi.

The fact that today representatives of the Georgian political elite happily accept beggarly handouts from various European Union guests (we are talking about financial support and vaccines against Covid-19), further proof of this. It would be nice to explain to the head of the Foreign Ministry that the line of “occupation”, “problems” with humanitarian aid, “detention of citizens” who illegally cross the state border with Abkhazia and South Ossetia did not exist at all until the United States of America and the created they are the North Atlantic Alliance.

Further, Zalkaliani presents the entire “civilized world” with simply “brilliant” ideas.

“These will be two parallel directions: one, of course, activities in the direction of de-occupation, and the second will be carried out from the point of view of interaction with our citizens living on the other side of the occupation line. How to share with them the advantages that we have in terms of integration with the EU. This is what we expect from our strategic partners, and I think that together with them we will be able to translate the main directions reflected in the de-occupation strategy into a practical dimension,” says the minister.

David Zalkaliani.

Today, of course, the rejection of forceful methods of solving problems, belligerent rhetoric and the transition to peaceful initiatives is, of course, a positive event, but why in this case do we not see enthusiastic reactions to this “peace communiqué” from ordinary citizens living in Abkhazia and South Ossetia?

Obviously, in this case, the trust factor comes to the fore, which, unfortunately, has completely exhausted itself. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, three bloody wars took place between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, claiming tens of thousands of lives.

And today, residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia can hear the roar of artillery cannonades, as a result of which civilians also died.

In conclusion, I would like to add that today in Tbilisi it is clear to everyone that it is simply impossible to return the former autonomies by military means - “mission impossible”, unless you face the truth and admit what you have done (we are talking about the former rulers of the country). Only after this can there be some hope and a chance to restore former good-neighborly relations, and not those blah-blah motives that are dictated by American and European Union officials.