The de facto president of occupied Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania, appointed Sergei Shamba as the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Until now, Shamba held the position of Secretary of the so-called Security Council.
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Inal Ardzinba, who headed the de facto Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2021, was dismissed from his position on May 7. Since then, one of his deputies, Odyssey Bigvava, has been performing the duties of the minister.
Sergei Shamba, 73, was the de facto Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia from 1997 to 2010, and in 2010-2011, he held the position of so-called Prime Minister. He was also a candidate for the presidency and a member of parliament. In 2020, he was appointed de facto Secretary of the Security Council.
At the end of last year, Sergei Shamba spoke about the importance of communication to establish mutual understanding between Georgians and Abkhazians, stating that "it is necessary to look for opportunities for peaceful coexistence."
"I have spoken about this topic many times, and many people in the Abkhaz community do not like my position, but I always said that if there is a problem, you should speak first. There are no neighboring, close, or even related peoples who are not at war with each other. The whole of Europe is an example of this... I have always supported public diplomacy, and when I was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, our representatives very often met with Georgian opponents. It was an opportunity to understand each other's positions. It is very important to somehow start solving the problem. I still support it today," said Sergei Shamba.
As he says, many are still aggressive, both on the Abkhaz and Georgian sides; however, "this will pass with time."
