“Abkhazia did not notice at all that Georgia will soon become a candidate for EU membership. Indeed, we live next to each other, but somehow we have two parallel lives, we are in different orbits. We do not feel at all that in the future Georgia can become a member of the European Union, that is, in the context of the European Union, no one has offered any proposal to the Abkhazians, and the European Union has not done anything in relation to Abkhazia. In reality, we are cut off from it, we can't even go freely to EU countries. If, on the other hand, something were happening in Russia, it would concern us, it would worry us, but there is no common ground with the European Union and no clear perspective. So, the expected candidacy was not noticeable to us. For an ordinary citizen, candidacy and membership are completely incomprehensible, very distant constructs, and they don't know what they are talking about," Abkhazian journalist and columnist, Chegemskaya Pravda editor-in-chief Inal Khashig said in an interview with Georgian News.
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- Years ago, I often called Sukhumi and talked to high-ranking officials, recording their comments and interviews. What are the chances for Georgian journalists to do this today?
- I don't think that anyone will talk today, as openly as before, because there is no action between Abkhazia and Georgia, everything is frozen. In addition, the current officials are also very closed off. In this regard, the situation is not so optimistic.
- And what is their communication like with Abkhaz journalists?
- They are tight-lipped with us too; they communicate more with the state media.
- One of the latest news was the statement of the Prime Minister of Armenia about the support for the territorial integrity of Georgia and Aslan Bzhania's quick response to this. How did the ethnic Armenians living in Abkhazia receive Nikol Pashinyan's statement?
- Of course, I cannot speak for all Armenians, but the majority of Armenians do not like Pashinyan, and this probably applies not only to the Armenians of Abkhazia, but all Armenians of the former Soviet Union. In this regard, what happened with Nagorno-Karabakh is important - Nagorno-Karabakh and its statehood no longer exist. Also, there is no Armenian population there anymore.
For the Armenian diaspora in the post-Soviet space, Armenia is more of a historical homeland, and domestic politics does not concern them personally. They did not face social, housing, corruption or pension problems. It was important for them what was happening in terms of the security of the country. In this context, of course, Pashinyan lags behind all his predecessors.
The majority of Armenians in Abkhazia have an extremely negative attitude towards Pashinyan, especially now that Pashinyan stated that he fully supports the territorial integrity of Georgia.
- A few days ago it became known that Russia might cancel the export tax for Abkhazia. Is this move purely economic or has political grounds?
- For many years, the price of fuel in our country was even a little lower than the prices in Russia. Our value-added tax is low and it was quite comfortable for Abkhazians to import fuel without export tax. Recently, with no more such benefits, the prices increased sharply on all types of goods. Our government often drew the attention of Russian colleagues to this issue and asked them to return to the old scheme.
I think Moscow has taken a counter-step and is introducing a preferential regime for Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This will help to lower the price of gasoline and, therefore, all essential goods. Perhaps there is a political element in this Russian move, but Moscow has a laundry list of other levers to push its agenda. This situation was damaging the image of Russia quite hard and did not present it in the best light in the Abkhazian society.
- It seems that the attitude towards Russia in Abkhazia is changing and not for the better.
- Abkhazians have varying attitudes towards Russia. We are now at a stage where the current government is the most unpopular in post-war history. There are many unresolved socio-economic problems. Also, there are too many unpopular decisions. For example, the president is trying to advance the issue of the possibility of selling apartments to foreigners and calls this commercial housing. In fact, this is an attempt to circumvent the law prohibiting the sale of real estate to foreigners. To put it mildly, this causes misunderstanding of the President's actions in the Abkhaz society. Such a policy is harmful in every way. The president plans to build 30,000 apartments. This means 100 thousand new residents who will come to Abkhazia, because these apartments will be intended for foreigners. They will settle compactly in different parts of Abkhazia. On the one hand, this will seriously disrupt the demographic balance, on the other hand, prices will increase. Considering that we don't even have a land cadaster yet, and the new constructions will be on the most sought-after lands - coastal and recreational areas, this is also a big problem. It is not clear what economic benefit Abkhazia will have from this, because it is not a hotel, in the case of which the economic profit is clear. The president says that the new residents will pay a small amount once a year. Also, these apartments will be a big burden for various utilities - the demand for already scarce electricity will increase. So, a large number of drawbacks accumulate, and the pros are almost negligible.
Of course, in this context, Russia figures everywhere and this causes concern, but the Abkhaz government itself causes more concern. Russia, of course, pursues its own interests, but when your own government does not care about the interests of Abkhazia at all and only thinks about its own personal or other interests, the Abkhazian society is more worried than Moscow about its actions.
- Will Abkhazians relent in their positions on economic issues?
- I don't think we are going to back down on anything. We have a very strong civil society. Considering the small size of Abkhazia, I don't think that these issues, which appear in Russian-Abkhazian relations now, have a very principled importance for Moscow.
In any case, it is more important for Moscow to have a loyal following in Abkhazia than to create another territory with growing anti-Russian sentiments. I think it will be quite a flexible situation in this context.
- As for the attitude of Abkhazians towards Georgians, what is the situation now, can we expect any positive changes?
- Since 2008, the issue of resolving the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict is getting deeper and deeper in the closet of the Georgian and Abkhazian societies. The conflict itself has become the subject of internal political disputes when any politician at any time can play on this topic and at the same time not take any actions with the argument that no one wants a cardinal change of the status quo either in Georgia or in Abkhazia, because it is not productive. On the other hand, why would politicians harm their rating?
When Aslan Bzhania became the president, he actively said that he was ready for direct negotiations with Georgia on various topics, and this was also indicated in the realm of foreign policy. They had a completely receptive reaction to this in Tbilisi, to be more precise, there were no countermeasures or statements. In general, there was a feeling that Bzhania's words and proposal were taken as a weakness of the Abkhazian government, the next step of which would be an announcement about joining Georgia under certain conditions. After Tbilisi's inadequate reaction, Bzhania received rather harsh criticism from the opposition and not only them. He stopped talking about it. This point was also removed from the concept of foreign policy. Georgia doesn't say much either.
The current situation in the world and the region is such that during such global changes, something can change for the better or the worse so this situation starts to shift from a deadlock. But neither the Georgian nor the Abkhaz side have made any attempt.
The main thing is that when all this is over and the situation in our region is settled, it should not be worse. It is necessary to take bilateral measures so that the authorities agree on something. It is not about Georgia recognizing Abkhazia's independence or Abkhazia applying to join Georgia. No, there are security, economic, and environmental issues and problems that need to be resolved.
- Young people from Abkhazia are fighting on the side of Russia in Ukraine. How do you view this in Abkhazia?
- Some fight and some do not support the war. Society reacts to this in different ways. In this matter, the majority of the population of Abkhazia supports Russia. The context that existed 30 years ago, during the Georgian-Abkhaz war, is reflected here - it is often recalled that Ukrainian units fought on the Georgian side. Many use this to explain why they take part in this (Russia-Ukraine) war. In fact, everyone understands that war is not the best thing, and even those who support Russia want this war to end soon, because we know what war is.
- As for the plans to place a permanent base of the Russian Navy in Ochamchire, what do the Abkhazians think about the possible escalation of tensions?
- There was a base there before, including after the war, in the 1990s. At the end of the 90s, it seemed to have dissolved, but after 2008 there was still a Russian border ship base there. I don't think that the fact that part of the ships of the Russian Black Sea fleet will land in Abkhazia because the Russian ships are not safe in Sevastopol, poses a huge military threat. On the other hand, the Russians are not going to build a large military naval base there, as the area is quite limited, and there is no place for a military base. In addition, it is clear that all this is temporary, that is, until the war continues.
- I am asking you about the danger of the Russian-Ukrainian war spreading on the coast of Abkhazia.
- Of course, there is a threat of strikes on Ochamchiri beach, but in this case, logistics is expanding. Maybe they launch an unmanned aerial vehicle from Odessa or hit Sevastopol or Novorossiysk, but the distance to the coast of Abkhazia is very long, and most things can be shot down over such distance. Moreover, Russia protects the air and sea space in Abkhazia within the framework of the agreement and security guarantees, which were undertaken after 2008, when signing a military agreement with Abkhazia. However, in the case of the Russian ships being stationed in Ochamchire, Russia will protect them with all possible means.
- Construction is underway near the Enguri bridge. What is being built there?
- This will be a border customs terminal. For 30 years, the state of the infrastructure has not changed there, only small wagons were standing. The government of Abkhazia has legalized some goods that can be brought across the border. As a result, the issue of the full-fledged operation of the customs post has become urgent, that is, receiving various types of cargo requires such changes. The customs checkpoint on the border with Georgia will not be inferior in terms of its functionality to the post on the Russian-Abkhazian border, and in the future, it will be possible to channel trucks through there as well.
Author: Manana Mchedlishvili
The language used by the respondent in the interview belongs to him and may not reflect the position of the editorial
