An economic development campaign in Georgian-controlled areas of the breakaway region of South Ossetia is being touted as the latest vehicle for promoting a political settlement in conflict zone.
In the early 19th century, Ossetia was incorporated into the Russian Empire. By 1922, the Soviet Union would solidify the high mountain border dividing ethnic Ossetians between Russia and Georgia. South Ossetia was made an autonomous region of newly secured Soviet Georgia.
For conflict zone residents, that point of view is common. For Georgians, though, the question now is with which self-declared government of South Ossetia to hold dialogue. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Two separate presidential elections and two separate referenda on the future of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia were held on November 12, but the outcome depends on your point of view. No agreement exists about which candidate is now the legitimate leader of this separatist territory.
The election commission in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, reporting at 2:30 p.m. local time, said 64 percent of voters had already cast ballots in the referendum on independence.
Local authorities set a minimum 50 percent threshold for the vote to be valid.
Georgia and Russia appear on a collision course over the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Tbilisi stands to lose more than it could ever gain by adhering to confrontational policies.
Georgian officials have made it clear that they neither support nor trust Russia's military peacekeeping force in South Ossetia. But what are the alternatives to this presence? Georgian ministers and members of parliament have advocated two different alternatives. Both assume that the Russians will abandon their interests in South Ossetia, and both invite more questions than answers.
Amidst an uneasy calm, Russian peacekeepers still stood at their posts on February 16 outside the Georgian village of Ergneti, not far from the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. But while there were no outward signs of tension, villagers expressed mixed feelings about Georgian plans to force Russian troops from the zone.
After weeks of escalating tension, Georgia's parliament unanimously adopted a resolution February 15 calling for the replacement of Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. The resolution did not set a deadline for the troops' departure.
With five days left to go before a parliamentary vote on the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, Georgian officials are taking steps to assure the international community that caution dictates their actions toward Moscow.
