Bagapsh: “Abkhazia has some friends – Russia and Belarus”
- 19.11.2009, 9:21
Members of the unrecognized Belarusian “parliament” had a meeting with the president of the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia.
Abkhazia understand the delicacy of the political situation regarding recognition of the republic and is not going to press on Belarus, Abkhazian president Sergei Bagapsh said, Interfax reports.
“Abkhazia is not going to beg anyone to recognize the country’s independence. We understand the current political situation; we understand the events in the world and Europe. As we have already said, we are ready for a dialogue with everyone who wants it,” Bagapsh said.
“We realize things are not easy in this complicated world. We have the states that will always be close to us. Abkhazia has some friends, the countries it would like to cast in our lot with, these are Russia, Belarus and some other countries,” Bagapsh noted.
He added the two republics were establishing economic ties. According to the president of Abkhazia, the country had purchased a parcel of agricultural equipment from Belarus and was considering a question of purchasing a large shipment of buses. “We get a loan from Russia, but will buy goods in Belarus,” the head of the republic said.
Head of the Belarusian delegation Mikhail Rusy thanked the leadership of the republic for the opportunity to see the complete picture of the situation in Abkhazia.
The Belarusian parliamentary delegation arrived in Abkhazia on Tuesday and plans to stay in the republic until Thursday.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia addressed the Belarusian “parliament” asking to recognize their independence a year ago. At this time, South Ossetia and Abkhazia have been recognized only by Russia and Venezuela. The president of Nicaragua introduced that question for discussion, but the parliament rejected the proposal. The rest countries consider Abkhazia and South Ossetia parts of Georgia.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka declared in September last year that Belarus would recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Most independent experts regarded this statement as flirting with the European Union to get loans.