Georgia's Breakaway Regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia Agree on Visa-Free Regime

According to RIA Novosti, an information agency, Georgia’s two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, have signed an agreement on a visa-free regime for residents of both territories.

Leonid Tibilov, de-facto leader of South Ossetia, said the document is supplementary to other Abkhazia-South Ossetia agreements, which have been signed between the two disputed Georgian regions already.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Abkhazia and South Ossetia have been transformed into conflict regions.

In 2008, after the Russian-Georgian war, the Kremlin recognized them as “independent states”; however, earlier this year Russia signed agreements with the two, tightening its control over the breakaway regions of Georgia, with new treaties that call for nearly full integration of the territories under the Russian Federation.

Russia continues to keep its control over the regions with its military personnel on the ground, both in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.