Leonid Tibilov, the leader of Georgia’s breakaway region of South
Ossetia, has announced that areferendum on unification of South
Ossetiawith Russia might be held in the next six months.
Tibilov told journalists on April 4 that he reached an agreement
during talks last week in Moscow with Vladimir Putin on the creation of
“asingle union structure” with Russia, to which South Ossetia
woulddelegate itssovereignty.
Tibilov was careful tocreate, as he put it, “political risks for our
strategic partner,” by which he hinted to the widespread international
condemnation and sanctions that followed Russia’s unrecognized
annexation of Crimea two years ago.
On July 30, 2015,the treaty on alliance between Russia and South
Ossetiacame into force. It provides the opening of borders,
theincrease of pensions and salaries, as well as the security of South
Ossetia without becoming a part of Russia. The treaty is condemnedby
Georgia, which treats South Ossetia as the territory occupied by Russia.
At the same April 4 press conference Tibilov stressed that South
Ossetia will retain its own armed forces, given that the provision of
thebilateral treaty that envisaged subsuming some South Ossetian
military units into the Russian Army violates Russian law. He thus
specifiedthatthe Ministry of Defence of South Ossetia will be
preserved, while South Ossetian military men will be enlisted in the
Russian unitsstationed on the territory of the republic.
Georgia and Russia fought a short war over South Ossetia and another
separatist region, Abkhazia, in 2008. After it ended, Moscow, whose
forces triumphed, recognized both regions as independent countries,
though most other nations have not.
South Ossetia’s initiative comes at a
time when Russia’s ties with the West remain strained over the Ukraine
crisis and the Kremlin’s air campaign in Syria to help President Bashar
al-Assad against insurgents fighting him.
https://neurope.eu/article/south-ossetia-leader-announces-referendum-joining-russia/