Bagapsh is accused of blackmailing world community

At the recent meeting with the UN General Secretary's special envoy Johan Verbeke Abkhazia's president stated the people of the republic had problems with obtaining entry visas to the countries of Europe. This innocent address caused a storm of accusations in the neighboring country...

"There are numerous facts of visa denials to a number of European countries for the citizens of the republic and this issue needs urgent solution", - GHN is quoting Sergey Bagapsh. The president stated to Verbeke that such actions might lead to undesirable consequences including Abkhazia's refusal to receive diplomats of these states coming to the republic to negotiate.

Many Georgian politicians and experts decided that acting so Abkhazia was trying to blackmail the world community.

Deputy Akaki Minashvili, a parliamentary majority member, noted that this republic belonged to the territory of Georgia and the question of visa issuance to its citizens was solved by its leaders and not regional authorities as nregion.com reports. According to him "this is another glaring example of Russia's preparations for an aggressive demarche against the world community, European states and the USA".

The chairman of the parliamentary committee for restoration of Georgia's territorial integrity Shota Malashkhia is convinced that the Abkhazians despise the world community's position recognizing Georgia's territorial integrity and that Bagapsh will not be able to implement his initiative.

"There is a "citizen of Georgia" notion and any Georgian citizen, whether he/she is an Abkhazian or a Georgian has a right to get a Georgian passport and then a foreign visa to travel to any part of the world", - the deputy is quoted by abkhazeti.info. Otherwise the Abkhazians can very well move around Russia and "equally successfully around Nicaragua".

Malashkhia forgets just one thing - over 80% of Abkhazian citizens have a Russian passport that easily allows them to "travel to any part of the world". So the Georgian citizenship is not the only option for going abroad.

The leader of the Abkhazian government in exile Malkhaz Akishbaya called Bagapsh's statement another nonsense adding that

"the separatists have long been speaking the language of ultimatums not only to Georgia but to the whole world".

"Issuance of visas to Abkhazian citizens and diplomatic matters are governed by international norms", - Akishbaya enlightens the readers of the site of the Abkhazian government in exile.

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