Ex-Pres. Saakashvili offers creation of Abkhaz-Georgian federation

Imprisoned former President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, has proposed to the people of Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region to form a federation with Georgia with a capital in western Kutaisi.

Saakashvili suggested that “after the victory of Ukraine,” Georgia will be able to join the European Union and also negotiate with the people currently living in the Russian-occupied territories.

“With the withdrawal of the Russian occupation army, the Tskhinvali issue will be resolved on its own – those who wish to leave, they will go, while we have nothing to argue with those who will decide to stay. The situation with Abkhazia is more difficult. More people live there than in Tskhinvali and the degree of alienation is also higher,” Saakashvili said.

He stated that if the federation is created, Abkhazians will automatically become the citizens of both Georgia and Abkhazia, while other Georgian citizens will not be able to be the citizens of Abkhazia.

“This will remove the fear of assimilation for Abkhazians. Both Georgian and Abkhazian will be the official languages ​​of the state. In Kutaisi, the parliament will be bicameral with equal representation in the upper house. The President of Abkhazia will always be the Vice-President of Georgia,” Saakashvili said.

He stated that there should be a transition period (about 3-5 years) during which the armed forces, customs and border service would be integrated.

Saakashvili said that the de facto region was expected to accept this as recent decades have shown that  Abkhazia was unable to  gain international recognition as an independent country.

“Together with Georgia, with our proposed model, it can become a full-fledged entity of the federation and part of the European Union with full guarantees of development and identity protection,” Saakashvili said,

 

The former president was arrested in Tbilisi in October of the last year after eight years in political exile.