Abkhaz MPs Visit Chechnya

A group of lawmakers from breakaway Abkhazia’s Parliament, led by speaker Nugzar Ashuba, visited Russia’s Chechen Republic on July 16-19, the Abkhaz news agency, Apsnipress, reported on July 21.

In February, 2008 the then speaker of the Chechen parliament, Dukvakh Abdurakhmanov, visited Abkhazia and the sides agreed to sign an agreement on cooperation between the two parliaments. The document has not been signed, as the sitting parliament in Chechnya suspended its term in office last month and snap elections will be held later this year.

Abkhaz speaker Nugzar Ashuba said he hoped the agreement would be signed with the new parliament of Chechnya.

“Everywhere in Chechnya we felt the empathy of the Chechen people towards the problems of Abkhazia,” Ashuba said. “Chechens were one of the first to come to help us and played an important role in the Abkhaz victory [in the armed conflict of the early 90s].”