De-Facto South Ossetian Government on Syrian Recognition

On Tuesday, the Syrian government announced its recognition of the self-proclaimed independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia – regions internationally recognized as legally part of Georgia.

The day before Syria announced its decision, the de-facto President of South Ossetia (referred to by Georgian authorities as the occupied Tskhinvali region), Anatoly Bibilov, teased the move, telling the Russian news agency TASS, “It's impossible to stop the process of recognizing South Ossetia. We will gradually get full recognition of our independence. At least one state will recognize us by the end of this year.”

On May 29, Bibilov announced that his de-facto government was establishing diplomatic relations with Syria, along with the de-facto government of Abkhazia, and that Syria had recognized both regions’ unilateral declarations of independence.

"Mutual recognition of independence and the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of South Ossetia and the Syrian Arab Republic is a significant and historic phenomenon,” said Bibilov, “Everybody needs new friends, especially those countries that have found themselves in a difficult situation, facing military aggression and terrorism.”

The de-facto South Ossetian president expressed gratitude to Syrian President Bashar Assad, and called for the development of “close political, economic and cultural relations." Bibilov called the "recognition of independence of South Ossetia by Syria...a continuation of the irreversible process that began in 2008.”

The de-factor foreign minister of South Ossetia, Dimitry Medoev, says his office is taking the first steps towards developing a relationship between the foreign ministry of Syria and the de-facto foreign ministry of South Ossetia, including discussions on opening an embassy in Damascus and a Syrian embassy in Tskhinvali. Medoev made a statement, saying "The recognition of South Ossetia by Syria is of great importance to us. We are grateful that Bashar Assad has made such a decision. It is a great honor for us and a big responsibility.”

According to the Georgian governments, both regions are illegally occupied by Russia. Abkhazia and South Ossetia have each created their own de-facto governments, and there have been violent clashes in the regions since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, including a short but deadly war in August 2008 after which Russian forces built a physical barrier through Georgian territory, formalizing the occupation.

Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia are military and financially sustained by the Russian Federation, who has been one of Syria’s few allies in its long and bloody civil war. The only countries that recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states are Syria, Russia, Nauru, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. 

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: Sputnik

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