South Ossetia’s referendum may raise Russia-Georgia tension
By Simon Ostrovsky
TBILISI: A referendum and a 'presidential' election in one of Georgia's rebel regions planned for Sunday could intensify the stand-off between the Kremlin and pro-Western Georgia.
South Ossetia, a region of Georgia populated by a mix of ethnic Ossetians and Georgians on Russia's south-western border, has long served as a flash point in already tense Russian-Georgian relations.
The territory broke away from Georgia in a brief 1992 war and has been encouraged by Russia, which backs it, to stage its second referendum on 'independence' during a leadership election in which the incumbent Eduard Kokoity is expected to win.
Though no government, including Russia's, recognises either poll or the de-facto authorities of the mountainous province, both Georgia and international mediators have warned against the vote, amid fears of an escalation of hostilities in the unstable region.
Karel de Gucht, the chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which mediates the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, called plans for a referendum “counter-productive”. The United States said the votes “will only serve to exacerbate tensions and divert attention from the need to peacefully resolve the conflict”. But the South Ossetian leadership insisted that the referendum was not a political move targeting international public opinion.
“We aren't holding this referendum so that someone, say Georgia or anyone else, recognises it. We're doing it for ourselves. We are interested in the opinion of the people,” Yuri Morozov, South Ossetia's unrecognised prime minister said at a press conference in the rebel capital Tskhinvali on Thursday.
The upcoming referendum comes amid a full blown diplomatic crisis between Russian and Georgia which erupted last month when Georgia arrested and then expelled four Russian officers it accused of spying.
Russia has cut off all transport links with the country, putting a damper on Georgia's struggling economy, and has since threatened to double prices on the natural gas it exports to the resource-poor Caucasus nation.
Georgian officials accuse Russia of using its economic weight and the upcoming referendum to put political pressure on Tbilisi as punishment for its pro-Western leader Mikheil Saakashvili's moves toward the European Union and the US-led Nato military alliance.
During a recent visit to Moscow, Georgia's foreign minister Gela Bezhuashvili also accused Moscow of seeking to “grab” South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia.
“We consider the advances made to separatist regimes, financing given to them, all supplying of arms, as an anti-Georgian policy,” Bezhuashvili added.
Russia says its measures against Georgia are a response to Tbilisi's “anti-Russian policies”. Meanwhile, the 50,000 to 100,000 people living in South Ossetia have made clear their desire to achieve international recognition of their independence as a step towards integration into Russia, where they share ethnic links with the population of Russia's North Ossetia province.
As it stands, nearly all residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have been given Russian passports and use the Russian ruble, and the regions are patrolled by Russian peacekeeping forces.
Small-scale outbreaks of violence have become a common feature of life in South Ossetia, with the region's de-facto rulers announcing last week they had killed four alleged Georgian operatives on their territory.
Whether or not the allegations of infiltration, or indeed the killings, are proven to be true, Georgia has taken a number of moves to try to regain control over the recalcitrant region.
In the summer of 2004 Georgian troops briefly took control of the hills surrounding the Ossetian capital Tskhinvali in an operation that cost dozens of lives.
More recently, Georgia has ratcheted up its propaganda campaign against South Ossetia with a flashy Russian-language television network targeting the region.
It is also rumoured to be behind a parallel leadership election being staged in majority Georgian villages of South Ossetia on Sunday, though Tbilisi has not confirmed this.—AFP
