In December 2009, the EU adopted a non-recognition and engagement policy towards South Ossetia and Abkhazia. While the situation along the conflict lines continued to stagnate during the first half of 2010, some positive developments have been observed in the past few months: Russian troops finally withdrew from the village of Perevi where they had been staying in violation of the August 2008 ceasefire agreement. During the 13th round of the Geneva Talks in October the parties to the conflicts succeeded in unblocking the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism in South Ossetia. Improving relations between Brussels, Washington and Moscow provide for a more favourable international context for conflict management in Georgia.
The EU and other international actors should carefully watch the scene and use any opportunity available to improve the situation along the lines of conflict. Engagement with South Ossetia and Abkhazia is an important tool of the EU’s conflict managementpolicy, and it requires profound knowledge of the situation in the two unrecognised entities. This paper provides an analysis of recent political, economic and societal developments in Abkhazia and puts forward ideas for a more concise engagement policy.
This second seminar in the 'Unfinished business in Europe' series focused on Eastern Europe with a particular emphasis on EU and US approaches to regional relations and domestic transformation in the region.
On 12 December 2009, presidential elections will take place in the breakaway region of Abkhazia, whose pro-Moscow separatist president Sergey Bagapsh is tipped to claim a second term. EUISS researcher Sabine Fischer analyses the state of domestic politics in Abkhazia in the lead-up to the elections and in the context of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict.
The hostilities between Russia and Georgia reflect a lack of long-term strategic thinking on the part of Russia, which is jeopardising relations with the West in order to assert itself as a global power, as well a political climate of increasing nationalism in Georgia. Neither of these factors is constructive in resolving the conflicts over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
