TO HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION MR

TO HIS EXCELLENCY PRESIDENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION MR. V. V. PUTIN

Esteemed Valdimir Vladimirovich!

In the recent decade the people and leadership of the Republic of Abkhazia have repeatedly declared their willingness to establish closest relationship with the Russian Federation. Yet this is impeded by the fact that the UN and respectively its Member-States recognized the territorial integrity of Georgia within the borders of the former GSSR as of December 21 1991.

However Abkhazia is not anyhow related to today’s Georgia and its borders as the political and legal relations between Abkhazia and Georgia were severed already in the period of USSR.

After Z. Gamsakhurdia came to power, the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Georgia declared a transitional period for restoration of Georgia’s independent statehood at the end of 1990, and a referendum was scheduled on 28 February 1991 on the issue of restoring Georgia’s independent statehood based on the Independence Act of 26 May 1918, which was actually a decision to disaffiliate with the USSR.

According to Law of the USSR ‘On the Procedure for Deciding Issues Related to Disaffiliation of a Union Republic with the USSR’ of 3 April 1990, in case of a union republic disaffiliating with the USSR, autonomous republics had the right to independently decide upon remaining in the USSR and upon their political status. Therefore, Abkhazia took part in the referendum of 17 March 1991 where the majority of the Republic’s population voted for maintaining the USSR. The referendum results were officially confirmed by the USSR Central Referendum Commission. In the same time Georgia, having declared its intention to build an independent state, did not participate in the referendum. The referendum on restoring Georgia’s independent statehood was held on the territory on Georgia on 31 March, in which Abkhazia did not participate.

On 9 April 1991, based on the results of the referendum, the Supreme Soviet of Georgia adopted the Act on Restoring the Independent Statehood of Georgia that declared Georgia a legal successor of the Georgian Democratic Republic of 1918-1921. From that moment the GSSR de-jure ceased to exist. Thus, two states not related to each other emerged on the territory of the former GSSR: Georgia that had declared its independence and disaffiliation with the USSR, and Abkhazia that was remaining an entity of the Soviet Union.

Consequently, political and legal relations between Abkhazia and Georgia, established and regulated by the Soviet law, were ceased also on the basis of the Soviet law.

Thus, by the moment the USSR collapsed, Abkhazia was its constituent entity, and recognition of Georgia’s territorial integrity within the borders of the USSR had no legal basis. In my letter sent to the UN Secretary-General before Georgia was admitted to the United Nations I informed him about the fact that there were no political and legal relationships between Abkhazia and Georgia, and that admission of Georgia to the UN within the borders of the former GSSR was illegitimate. Yet my appeal was ignored, which actually enabled Georgia to start an armed aggression against Abkhazia.

After the end of the war, the Abkhazian and Georgian sides mediated by Russia and the UN with participation of OSCE signed a Statement on Measures for Political Resolution of the Georgian-Abkhazian Conflict of 4 April 1994, which identified the fact of there being no political and legal relationship between Abkhazia and Georgia.

For four years after that, negotiations were held between Abkhazia and Georgia about the possibility of restoring political and legal relationships on a confederative basis, yet those were wrecked through the fault of the Georgian leadership. In 1999, a referendum about independence was held in Abkhazia, with participation of the majority of the republic’s pre-war population. According to the referendum outcomes, the Act of the Independent Statehood of the Republic of Abkhazia was adopted.

Despite its international commitments, Georgia repeatedly tried to forcibly establish control over Abkhazia. Last time that happened in October 2001 when the Georgian authorities transferred to Abkhazia units of international terrorists under Gelaev’s command.

The people of Abkhazia consider Russia as the only guarantor of security and stability in the region. It is the Russian peacekeepers and the firm position of the Russian leadership that help avoid a new large-scale war.

The leadership of Abkhazia is fully supported by the people of Abkhazia in establishing closest relations with Russia. And because of the above-listed circumstances, Abkhazia is entitled for that.

In this regard, I request you to consider the issue of establishing associated relations with Abkhazia. This model of relationship has international analogues, and in our opinion such relations are the only guarantee of security for our state and our people as well as a necessary precondition for the development of the Russia-oriented economy of the Republic.

We hope that you would support this appeal.

With sincere respect,

V. Ardzinba

President of the Republic of Abkhazia

Sukhum, 1 March 2002

(Newspaper “Sakartvelos respublika”, # 24, 5-6 March 2002)