Last year, representatives of domestic mediaactively discussed the question of whether South Ossetia will be part of Russia. Today it has not lost its relevance due to the fact that the leaders of both states are making maximum efforts to sign an agreement on integration and alliance.
Members of "United Ossetia" for joining
In the parliamentary elections, the faction "United Ossetia"received a majority, and its leader, Anatoly Bibilov, answering the question of whether South Ossetia will join Russia, said he would like this reunion.
However, earlier Russian mass mediainformation wrote that Moscow is not very interested in such political consolidation. Despite this, the head of the governing party was ready to determine by popular vote whether South Ossetia would become part of Russia.
First hearings and entry issue
After the first parliamentary hearings, AnatolyBibilov said that the deputies of the legislative body came to the conclusion that the Ossetian people should solve the issue of erasing the administrative borders between the above-mentioned states.
Earlier, the question of whether South Ossetia will enterThe composition of Russia has repeatedly been raised by Tskhinvali political scientists, but one of the phrases expressed by Bibilov gave a clear understanding of how the governing party is set to reunite with the Russian people.
“We firmly follow the declared slogans andno double standards in their political intentions are not allowed. The question of whether South Ossetia will join Russia this year will be submitted to a referendum. At the same time, we should not forget that a consolidated and capable parliament must initiate such a decision, ”the politician said.
Nevertheless, the talk about holding a referendum, where the question of whether South Ossetia would join Russia this year, would be resolved did not cause a serious stir.
В прошлом помощник главы российского государства paid a visit to Tskhinval to discuss with the Ossetian authorities the possibility of building modern real estate in the capital of South Ossetia. At that time, Anatoly Bibilov did not miss the opportunity to once again state that the fate of the question of whether South Ossetia would join Russia in the near future would depend on the will of the people.
Public opinion
It should be noted that a certain partTskhinvali political scientists doubted that the decision to destroy the administrative borders between Russia and South Ossetia would be made by popular vote. Not the last role in the issue of accession is played by the opinion of the residents of North Ossetia, since they, like nobody, are close to the mentality of the South Ossetians. Moreover, if, for example, the question of whether South Ossetia will become part of Russia next year is decided positively, in fact such an act will not be considered as an extension of the borders of the above-mentioned republic. In reality, there will be a consolidation of the north and the south, as a result of which one subject of the Russian Federation will appear - Ossetia.
What the survey showed
It should be noted that representativesThe public of the RSO does not have a single point of view on whether South Ossetia will be part of Russia. The war with Georgia, it would seem, put all the dots above the "and." One way or another, but statistics is a stubborn thing.
So, will South Ossetia become part of Russia? Who is for this? It turned out that only 79% of respondents. The same number of residents of the RSO support the policy of the head of the faction “United Ossetia” Anatoly Bibikov.
It must be emphasized that residents of the NorthOssetians also disagree over whether South Ossetians need to reunite with the Russians. Our citizens also gave ambiguous answers to the above question.
About 12% of those surveyed said thatIt’s not expedient for Russia to erase the territorial borders with South Ossetia, as this may entail additional sanctions from the United States and Europe.
Remarkable is the fact that a huge part of respondents to the question of whether Western sanctions have a negative impact, gave a negative answer.
About 8% of respondents opposedso that South Ossetia becomes a part of Russia, since they have confidence that South Ossetia is an economically weak republic, which may adversely affect the development of a number of regions in the North Caucasus.
One way or another, many Ossetians believe thatBibilov’s initiative with the referendum will not be implemented and will remain as a promise. It should be noted that the question of joining the RSO to the Russian Federation had already been put up for a referendum in the 90s of the last century, but it did not have a political continuation.
It is highly likely that today's referendum will be formal.
Risk of Georgian aggression
For many political scientists remains a mystery, will enterwhether South Ossetia is part of Russia. The border with Abkhazia has not been established for the first year, but despite this, many people remember the monstrous Georgian aggression. In this regard, South Ossetian officials came out with a proposal to conclude a military alliance with Russia. The chief of staff of the presidential administration of the RSO Chochiev commented on the situation as follows: "We appealed to the head of the Russian state to conclude an agreement on military cooperation in order to consolidate the grouping of troops and strengthen social guarantees in South Ossetia." The official added that the project will be discussed as soon as possible.
“We recommended international organizationsto influence Tbilisi so that the Georgian authorities join the agreement on the non-use of force. Unfortunately, in the course of numerous discussions, the leadership of Georgia refused to sign the above contract, and I am convinced that no one will give us guarantees that aggression by the above state will be ruled out. I will note that the attack on the RSO and Russia in 2008 happened with the existing guarantees of the non-use of force, ”Chochiev said.
Threat of annexation
Of course, today many are concerned about the issue ofwhether South Ossetia will be part of Russia. Abkhazia, Russia have already developed for themselves a “single security contour”, and it would be reasonable for South Ossetia to create it for itself. The Abkhaz state has concluded a cooperation agreement with the Russian Federation, which implies a strategic partnership and the formation of joint armed forces.
Russian President Vladimir PutinHe stressed that about 5 billion rubles will be allocated to Abkhazia this year, and funding will be provided annually in the amount of 4 billion rubles.
With this in mind, for the authorities of the RSO should definitelythe question of whether South Ossetia will become part of Russia will be decided. Abkhazia, Russia are strategic partners, but, unfortunately, not everyone approves of such cooperation. In particular, the representative of the Georgian government, Zurab Abashidze, condemned the international integration of Abkhazia and Russia, positioning it as “a step towards the annexation of Abkhazia”.
Also expected was a reaction from NATO.The above-mentioned agreement on strategic partnership and cooperation was not recognized by representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance. The United States explains this by saying that the document was concluded in violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia.
Так или иначе, но в настоящее время не теряет the relevance of the question: "Will South Ossetia be part of Russia"? Abkhazia has already made its choice, and it is safe to say that it did not lose by this, but, on the contrary, won.
Will campaign promises be fulfilled
For many political scientists that remains unclearthe fact why the Ossetians did not immediately follow the path of the Abkhazians and did not sign a partnership agreement with the Russian Federation. Will South Ossetia be part of Russia? Abkhazia - Russia or not? Will join the Union of South Ossetia? The ambiguity in these matters is partly dictated by the peculiarities of the mentality of the Ossetian people and the lack of readiness of officials for radical changes. As already emphasized, the situation began to change when Anatoly Babilov won the parliamentary elections, who promised to reunite Russia and the South Ossetians at the pre-election debate.
Military Cooperation Treaty
In fairness it should be noted that betweenRSO and the Russian Federation signed over eighty cooperation agreements. It would seem, where else? One way or another, but there was a lack of an official document that would regulate military coordination between the armed forces of South Ossetia and the 22nd base. The Russian Defense Ministry has concluded with the leadership of the RSO a huge number of economic agreements: on pensions, on supplies, on awarding awards and titles. However, there was a gap in the legal field when it came to talk about military cooperation in the event of force majeure.
Необходимо отметить, что абхазские власти в штыки perceived the news of the intentions to conclude the above treaty: they say, if the Russian general commands the republican army, the independent state will lose its sovereignty. Residents of South Ossetia, on the contrary, were approving of the signing of an agreement on military cooperation.
The ruling party is active
The head of the party "United Ossetia" Anatoly Bibilov, inIn turn, he constantly stated that under favorable conditions, the legislative bodies of both states would soon be able to ratify the agreement. He even called the approximate date when this could happen - the first decade of 2015.
Bibilov also added that the signing of a document on strategic partnership with Russia will enable both countries to get out of the impasse in which they were driven by the Geneva accords.
"It is not the first year that data existsagreement, but there is practically no effect on them. There are also no concrete steps and absolutely no steps are taken to agree on a non-aggression treaty, ”the official said.
The head of the United Ossetia faction did not rule out that the opposition represented by the Tbilisi leadership would obstruct the negotiating parties.
«Грузинские чиновники стали полностью зависимы от decisions of the United States, so the factor of Abkhazia and the Crimea in Tbilisi will play a significant role. Whether we will enter into an agreement with Russia or not, we will still stick a spoke in the wheels, ”Bibilov stressed.
For many parliamentarians of the RSO remainsThe fundamental question is whether South Ossetia will join Russia or return to independence. Opinions were divided, but a significant part of the deputies are in favor of the integration of Russia and South Ossetia.
"The main national idea of our people isestablishing partnerships with the Russian Federation in the social and military-political sphere, including the destruction of administrative borders, ”one of the parliamentarians of the RSO noted.
"A sly plan
As noted above, Tbilisi officialsthey interpret in their own way the question of whether South Ossetia will join Russia or return to Georgia. They are categorically opposed to cooperation between Russia and the RSO in the military sphere.
“Representatives of Georgian diplomacy are already tryingto do everything possible to prevent the creation of the above alliance. Responsible international organizations and Western politicians who view the Kremlin’s actions as a form of occupation and annexation are on Tbilisi’s side, ”the media reported.
Негативную оценку сближения России и Южной Осетии Paata Zakareishvili, who is an official in charge of civil equality issues in the Georgian government, gave. He added that the Kremlin is playing a dishonest game with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, since at first it recognized the independence of these republics, and today it is trying to take away sovereignty once approved, inclining the parties to sign illegal international legal agreements.
One way or another, opposition forces blameThe Georgian Dream Cabinet of Ministers is inadequate and urges it to pursue a more stringent policy. The faction of the former head of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, United National Movement, approves the introduction of additional sanctions for Russia by the West. In 2008, the European Union did not realize how dangerous the actions of the Russian authorities are in relation to neighboring countries. Today came the turn of Ukraine. However, it is very important that the European community gives guarantees of protection against Russian aggression not only to Ukraine, but also to Georgia. This position was expressed by the representative of the Nationalist Party Georgi Baramidze.
In addition, supporters of Saakashvili urge to terminate all agreements with the Russian Federation.
Kremlin reaction
Last year, presidential representativesThe administrations have repeatedly stated that the head of state, Vladimir Putin, and the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sergey Lavrov, and the current Prime Minister, Dmitry Medvedev, rejected the idea of erasing the administrative borders between Russia and South Ossetia. This decision was also dictated by the fact that Moscow had previously recognized the independence of the RSO at an official level, and this circumstance is primarily taken into account in building international relations with the neighboring republic.
The principle of independence also forms the basis of military cooperation, despite the fact that about eighty agreements have already been concluded.
Of course, first of all, interest inthe unification of Russia and the RSO was felt in Tskhinval itself, and the solution of this issue depended to a large extent on the will of the Ossetian people. In fairness it should be noted that, according to sociologists, the public in South Ossetia feels more protected from external threats when it is under Russian jurisdiction. But in the conditions of sovereignty, guarantees of tranquility seem to them fragile. In any case, the South Ossetians should strive to create a capable and economically developed state, which is unthinkable without cooperation with the Russian Federation.
Current state of affairs
Most recently, the head of the Russian governmentVladimir Putin sent the parliament a draft law providing for the ratification of the agreement with the RSO on integration and alliance. Only after the deputies approve the regulatory legal act, it will be finally known whether South Ossetia will become part of Russia. According to the documents that are planning to sign the parties, Moscow and Tskhinval greatly expand the boundaries of cooperation. First of all, we are talking about a contract that provides for alliance and integration. Serious emphasis will be placed on that part of the agreement where provisions are laid down for expanding the partnership in the military sphere.
Of course, you don't have to be a rocket scientist todraw a few simple conclusions that flow from such cooperation between the Russian Federation and the RSO. First, representatives of the Russian military department will head the united armed forces. Secondly, from a legal point of view, the territorial border of South Ossetia will coincide with the state border of Russia.
