Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

Secession of Kosovo precedent South Ossetia annexation

Looking a lot like blackmail

-Am



16:38 | 23/ 03/ 2006


Vedomosti, Gazeta

Russian government willing to accept Georgian breakaway republic

Russia has made a principled decision to annex South Ossetia, a self-proclaimed republic in Georgia, said Gennady Bukayev, an aide to the prime minister, at a joint meeting of South and North Ossetian governments. To do so, Russia will use the precedent of Kosovo, whose secession from Serbia is now being seriously discussed, experts told the papers.
A government source said: "Analytical work on the North Caucasus is constantly ongoing at all levels of the authorities, but diplomatically and legally regulated schemes are far from complete." Another government official said that Bukayev's statement could be a trial balloon: "But he was a little too early. He should have done it closer to when the West announced its final decision on Kosovo."
Eduard Kokoity, the leader of South Ossetia, said he wanted to ensure that integration had the necessary legal framework. "We will apply to the Russian Constitutional Court, because there is a document on the integration of a united Ossetia in the Russian Empire in 1774 [under the peace treaty between Russia and Turkey]."
Constitutional experts believe that the Court was unlikely to consider the application.
However, prominent lawyer Igor Trunov said: "I do not see any obstacles from the legal point of view. There is a federal constitutional law regulating the acceptance of a state or part of a state into Russia in compliance with an international treaty."
Formally, Kokoity's application cannot be rejected, said Sergei Shakhrai, one of the authors of the current Russian Constitution and the Audit Chamber's head of staff. However, a referendum on the issue should also be held in Georgia, which has never recognized South Ossetia's independence. So the breakaway republic should not hope to join Russia within the next decade, he said.
Legal grounds for Russia to annex South Ossetia could emerge soon, if the international community decides to grant independence to Kosovo, which is legally an autonomous province within Serbia, said Valery Yegozaryan, head of the Center for International Affairs Studies of the Institute for Society Projects.

Kommersant


S. Ossetia to seek joining Russia via court
12:33 | 22/ 03/ 2006



VLADIKAVKAZ, March 22 (RIA Novosti) - The president of South Ossetia said Wednesday the breakaway Georgian region would ask Russia's Constitutional Court to let it join the Russian Federation and would present historical documents to back its claim.

"We intend to file an application with the Russian Constitutional Court," Eduard Kokoity said. "There is a document that proves that a united Ossetia was part of the Russian Empire in 1774, whereas there are no documents to prove that the southern part of Ossetia broke away from the Russian Empire or from the Russian Federation. Why should we ask to join Russia if we never [officially] left it?"

South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, bringing bloody conflicts to the region. Russia mediated ceasefire agreements between the sides, and Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in the conflict zones ever since.

Georgia, which is seeking to bring the regions back under its control, has accused Russia of siding with separatists and stalling the peace process. Late last year, the country's new Western-leaning government demanded that Russian troops be pulled out of the conflict zones. Russia said this could trigger a new civil war, as the breakaway regions have rejected the policy pursued by Georgia.

Ninety-five per cent of South Ossetian residents reportedly hold Russian citizenship. The region wants to rejoin North Ossetia, although the two were separate administrative entities in the Soviet era and were separated further after the breakup of the Soviet Union.



http://en.rian.ru/world/20060322/44650188.html