"Peaceful settlement of the Georgian-Osset conflict has taken start. I hope it will not be nipped in the bud as Abkhazia, too, will come under threat if the South Osset problem is settled by force," Constantine Dumava, prominent Abkhaz political expert, said to Novosti.
Georgia still faces bad problems as its statehood is developing. "It has been making a new state for more than ten years now-but problems still obsess it.
"Previous and current developments prove we [the Abkhaz] were right as we fought for our autonomy when, early in the 1990s, the then Georgian top attempted to abolish it and rule our land directly. Had we given in then, now the Abkhaz and the Osset alike would be abject ethnic minorities discriminated against. More than that, we would be nationals of a country that, in fact, has not properly emerged yet.
"As things really are, fairly steady social relations have taken shape in Abkhazia and South Ossetia for today-that thanks to our fortitude. Abkhaz and South Osset political developments are within universally recognised democratic limits. Regrettably, I cannot say so about our southern neighbour [Georgia]," said Mr. Dumava.
As he sees it, the different approaches of involved Georgian ministers to the conflict round South Ossetia is one of the most spectacular proofs that Georgian statehood is embryonic and inadequate: "Okruashvili [Georgian Interior Minister] says one thing while Baramidze [Defence Minister] is saying something quite the contrary. Here's only one instance. Baramidze is speaking up for a simultaneous pullout from the conflict zone just when Georgia's Interior units are starting skirmishes in South Ossetia, one after another.
"The key ministers not merely say but do different things. Georgia will never be a reliable negotiator before they come to an accord between themselves," warned the expert.
