S.Ossetia Leader Says Plans Referendum on Joining Russia

Leader of breakaway South Ossetia, Leonid Tibilov, said he plans to initiate holding of a referendum on joining the Russian Federation, his press office said on October 19.

The announcement was made after Tibilov met in Tskhinvali Vladislav Surkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide in charge of overseeing Moscow’s relations with breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Without specifying timeframe of possible referendum, Tibilov was quoted by his press office as saying that “all the steps in terms of implementation of referendum results will be only be made in agreement with the Russian side.”

Calls for joining Russia were frequently heard from Tskhinvali before the August, 2008 war and the issue was emerging time after time since then as well. Anatoly Bibilov, whose United Ossetia party won majority of seats in breakaway South Ossetian parliament last year, and who is now speaker of the legislative body, was running a pre-election campaign on the promise of holding a referendum on joining the Russian Federation.

In March, 2015 after Tskhinvali signed treaty on “alliance and integration” with Moscow, formalizing merger of the breakaway region’s many key structures with those of the Russian Federation, Tibilov said that the issue was not yet on the agenda.

But on October 19 his press office reported that Tibilov told Surkov about his decision to hold the referendum.

“Pursuant to today’s political realities, we should make our historic choice, join our brotherly Russia and guarantee security and prosperity for our republic for centuries,” Tibilov was quoted by his press office.
 
Chairman of Russia’s State Duma committee on CIS and Eurasian integration Leonid Slutsky told Russian news agency, RIA Novosti, on October 19 that Moscow should consider thoroughly before taking decision in favor of South Ossetia’s accession to Russia. Another senior Russian lawmaker said there are more cons than pros for Moscow in South Ossetia’s accession to Russia.

“We understand Leonid Tibilov’s motivation, but I would not make any forecasts before the referendum,” Russian MP Slutsky said.

“Accession to the Russian Federation is the next step and I think that it should be thoroughly weighed whether the need for that is ripe,” he said.

“On the other hand we should understand that reaction of the international community [on South Ossetia’s accession to Russia] will be absolutely explosive,” Slutsky said, suggesting that it would not be the best timing for such decision in the condition when “powerful information war is already waging against Russia.”

He said that South Ossetia already has extensive economic and social support from Russia.

“As far as political dimension and political consequences are concerned, it should be clearly understood, that even if the people of South Ossetia want it, we should anyway reckon with geostrategic realities surrounding us,” said Slutsky.
 
Deputy chairman of Duma’s foreign affairs committee, MP Leonid Kalashnikov, told RIA Novosti news agency: “Pros of accession to the Russian Federation are quite obvious for South Ossetia. But there are not so many [pros] for Russia; there are too many cons for Russia of diplomatic and international nature.”

“All these pros and cons will be considered thoroughly,” MP Kalashnikov said, adding that although South Ossetia can hold the referendum, it is too early to say how Russia would respond.
 
Russian daily Kommersant reported on October 20 citing unnamed Russian source familiar with the matter that “referendum is not on the agenda right now. The South Ossetian President was probably speaking about the public mood. On the agenda is implementation of the treaty on alliance and integration, which was signed in March by Vladimir Putin and Leonid Tibilov.”