Russian lawmakers are set to discuss the future of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia amid tension in the Caucasus region.
| That shouldn't take long ... |
Russia's State Duma and Federation Council will hold a session on Monday to discuss the issue following demands by the region's people and officials, the Russia Today reported on Sunday.
The leaders of the breakaway region have announced that they should not wait longer following Georgia's attack on South Ossetia. They asked Russia to recognize their independence and protect "their republic".
| "Please, please, Czar Vlad!" |
"Parliament has accepted the appeal to recognize the independence of Abkhazia," Sergey Shamba, Abkhazia's self-proclaimed foreign minister said. "The appeal is addressed to the government of the Russian Federation as well to presidents and parliaments of the world. Provided Russia recognizes the independence of Abkhazia, we hope to receive guarantees of our security and the economic development of the republic," he added.
Abkhazian President Sergey Bagapsh had appealed to Russia and other countries to recognize the region's independence earlier this month and after the Ossetia war. The breakaway region proclaimed independence from Georgia in 1990s but no country has so far recognized it.
| That'll change Monday ... |
Russia had earlier warned that the West's support for the unilateral independence of the breakaway Serbian region of Kosovo would set a dangerous precedent, arguing that the move would justify the secession of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. |