Lavrov Hints on South Ossetia Referendum

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hinted on June 2 that Georgia should not be hesitant over a South Ossetian referendum on, as he put it, “self-determination.”

“The issue of self-determination is part of international law, which is carried out through an expression of will [of the people]… Russia was not afraid to push for this referendum in Chechnya and it was held,” Itar-Tass news agency quoted Lavrov as saying.

At a news conference in Moscow on June 2 South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said that there is no need to hold a new referendum on South Ossetia’s independence as a similar referendum was already held in the early 90s.