Margvelashvili: border barriers distract Abkhazians, South Ossetians from Georgian life
TBILISI. Dec 4 (Interfax) - There will be no artificial return of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to the single state of Georgia, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili said, adding that the position of the Georgian administration was welcomed by delegates to the Eastern Partnership Vilnius summit.
"The reason why barbed wire is being placed in Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali district [South Ossetia] although it has no strategic meaning is becoming obvious. The purpose of these barriers is to stop the real interest of our compatriots living behind the barbed wire in the events in Georgia," Margvelashvili said in a program aired by the Rustavi 2 channel on Tuesday.
In his opinion, residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia gained nothing from the events of August 2008.
"Do they have any future? And we will soon build a modern European state, in which a resident of Tskhinvali can hold a passport and travel to Berlin, Vienna and Rome without any impediments and visas. Which is more interesting: to be shut out behind the barbed wire or to participate in the European process?" Margvelashvili wondered.