Australian Broadcasting Corp Looks into Nauru Recognizing Abkhazia, South Ossetia

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has published an article asking why the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru is one of the only countries in the world to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, despite widespread international recognition that the regions are legally part of Georgia.

The article concludes that the most likely reason for Nauru to recognize the breakaway republics is financial gain. Although the recognition makes Nauru ineligible to receive aid from the United States, “Moscow has reportedly given Nauru economic assistance since they decided to recognise the breakaway Georgian republics. For smaller nations in the Pacific with few resources, it can be tempting to use their sovereignty for sometimes unusual purposes.” One of Nauru’s main sources of income is being the location of an off-shore detention facility for those caught by the Australian authorities attempting to enter the country illegally, most fleeing repression, war, or economic collapse in Africa and the Middle East.

Former Nauru president Sprent Dabwido denies this theory, saying, “If you fly out to South Ossetia and have a look and talk to the local community and the people there, you see a different side than what you see on the media or the international perspective. The actual people there are saying they really need independence, that they don't like to be known as Georgians or Russians, and would like to be known as South Ossetians."

The so-called President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov, says that Nauru represents South Ossetian interests at the United Nations.

The article includes comments from Dr Malakai Koloamatangi, Pacific Director of New Zealand's Massey University, who pointed out that “this by no means was the first time a Pacific nation had used its sovereign status unusually. Tonga for example, at the height of the Cold War, threatened to allow the former Soviet Union to construct a base in the northern Tongan island of Vava'u.”

Read the original article in its entirety here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-13/why-is-nauru-backing-south-ossetia-and-abkhazia/9751660

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: Wikimedia Commons