Secessionist Leaders to Meet

The leaders of breakaway Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Transdnestria are to meet to coordinate joint policies in light of Kosovo’s independence, the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee reported on February 23.

“Maybe someone thinks that Kosovo is a unique case,” Eduard Kokoity, the South Ossetian leader, said in comments posted on the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee website, “but our republics also have all the politico-legal rights for international recognition. We plan to appeal to the Russian State Duma [lower house of Parliament] and the Russian leadership, as well as the UN and other international organizations [for recognition].”