President calls for “strong” int’l response over de facto Abkhazia’s plans to hand local airport to Russia

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Thursday called for “strong and firm” international response over the latest decision by the de facto parliament in Georgia’s Russian-occupied Abkhazia region to hand the regional airport in the main city of Sokhumi to Russia. 

 

“I strongly condemn and protest the decision by the so-called parliament of temporarily occupied Abkhazia to transfer the strategic facility to Russia”, Zourabichvili said.  She stressed it was another “illegal action by Russia”, which Zourabichvili said required a “strong and firm reaction” from the international community. 

 

Amid its ongoing conflict with Ukraine, Russia is also trying to obtain 186 hectares of territory in the Bichvinta resort town of Abkhazia on a 49-year lease.

 

The illegal agreement on the transfer was signed in Moscow on January 19, 2022 with the de facto parliament starting discussions in July, which angered the local population. 

 

The area is a size of about 300 football fields.