Daur Buava, a blogger from Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region, told the European Parliament earlier this week that the conflict had left the domestic youth “in dark” over the years, providing them with “fake information” on Tbilisi’s “hostile attitude”.
The young blogger who has been living in Tbilisi over the past two years, told MEPs the youth in the region had “very little information” about Tbilisi’s true intentions.
“They are being told from very childhood that Georgians are enemies of Abkhaz. I saw a lot while living in Tbilisi. I understand that today the Georgian side really extends a helping hand to the Abkhaz population. Even the Abkhazian language is included in the Constitution of Georgia and is equated with the Georgian language. But our youth is not well informed,” he said.
Russia recognized two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali as independent states following its war with Georgia in 2008.
The central Georgian government lost control of the regions following internal conflicts between 1991-93, with Russia backing separatist regimes.