Sergei Lavrov’s Visit to Abkhazia

On 26 April, 2011, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergei Lavrov, visited Abkhazia. A day earlier, Lavrov was visiting Tskhinvali Region. At the beginning of the visit, Lavrov honored the memory of those killed in the Georgian-Abkhazian confrontation, at the glory memorial, together with the de facto Prime Minister of Abkhazia, Sergei Shamba. From there, he went on foot to the de facto President’s administration building, where he first met the de facto President Sergei Baghapsh and later met with the members of the de facto government in an extended format.

During the visit, an intergovernmental agreement was signed on the establishment of Abkhazian and Russian informational-cultural centers and their rules of procedure. Lavrov and Shamba exchanged diplomatic notes regarding the implementation of intra-state procedures connected with the bilateral agreement on visa free travel for Abkhazian and Russian citizens. On the same day, Lavrov awarded Shamba with a medal of the Russian Federation for his “Contributions to International Cooperation.”

During a short press conference held after the official meeting, Baghapsh and Lavrov answered the journalists’ questions:

• Lavrov positively assessed the dynamics of the development of Russian-Abkhazian relations. He said that a solid agreement and legal base had been created, which define the allied nature of relations. Lavrov said that they would ensure the security and the protection of the Abkhazian borders together and that the already mentioned legislative basis enabled Russia and Abkhazia to intensively and closely cooperate on social-economic issues.
• Lavrov stated that the document on the creation of cultural centers was added to the already existing 58 intergovernmental documents and that 40 additional documents were being developed, that would cover all spheres of bilateral cooperation.
• Lavrov stated that the most important task in terms of international relations was to “ensure security in the region”. According to him, it is especially important to Russia for Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region to feel themselves secure and have the opportunity to establish normal contacts with the outside world.

During the visit Lavrov also touched upon the problematic issues in bilateral relations, that he stated needed to be resolved:  first of them was the issue of property and secondly, the preparation of the agreement on establishing borders, their delimitation and then demarcation. The issue of property rights was especially pressing, touching upon the cases of taking away homes. 

Lavrov visit took place amid scandals regarding the aforementioned pressing issues. Before his visit, Russia’s territorial pretenses towards Abkhazia were stated regarding the village of Aibga. In addition, Abkhazia was also considering the issue of returning the properties that belonged to the IDPs from Abkhazia that later became Russian citizens. In this case, the Abkhazian side saw problems in those IDPs that were ethnically Georgian and had acquired Russian citizenship. Certain discontent before Lavrov’s visit was also caused by the closing down of Russian military sanatorium for a major rehabilitation, causing 1,300 employees to be suspended. 

In terms of the visit Lavrov went to the military settlement of the Russian Federal Border Service in New Athos, participated in the presentation of a book titled Russians in Abkhazia, as well as the launching of a lead pumping station in Gudauta municipality village of Aaatsi, which was funded by Russian money. Lavrov also inspected the part of the rails that was being constructed with the help of the Russian railway. He also awarded an Order of Friendship to the Artistic Director of the Russian Drama Theater, Nina Balaeva.