Georgia Warns Against Abkhaz Role in Sochi Olympics

Abkhazia’s involvement in preparations for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games without Tbilisi’s consent will be perceived as annexation, Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Bakradze has said. 

“I hope that our Russian colleagues will demonstrate political wisdom and will not take such a step without the consent of the central authorities of Georgia,” Bakradze, who is currently visiting Brussels, told Georgian journalists on March 5.

Russian Transport Minister Yuri Levitin told Russian lawmakers in the State Duma on March 5 that the use of Sokhumi airport in the preparation stages would significantly help in resolving some logistical and transport problems. 

“I want to tell Russian parliamentarians to calm down: by that time [2014] Georgia’s territorial integrity will have been restored and I am sure that the Georgian government will help Russia in holding the Olympic Games and using Sokhumi airport. In the meantime, any talks with the secessionist authorities will only discredit Russia,” Kote Gabashvili, chairman of the parliamentary committee for foreign relations, told Mze TV on March 5. 

There have been mixed signals coming from different Russian officials on Abkhazia’s possible role in the preparations for the Olympic Games in Sochi, which is less than 40 kilometers from the breakaway region. Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said earlier that it was difficult to imagine holding the Olympics in Sochi without the participation of “such a kind neighbor as Abkhazia.” Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh said last year that although no official proposal had been made by the Russian authorities about Abkhazia’s involvement in the preparations, consultations had been held with private Russian companies on using construction material available in Abkhazia for building Olympic facilities.