Ex-Abkhaz VP Says Abkhazia Should Join Union State of Russia, Belarus

Valery Arshba, Abkhaz vice-president in 1995-2005 serving under late leader Vladislav Ardzinba, said on October 21 that the Moscow-backed region should opt for joining the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

“The elite of Abkhazia, together with their people, need to make a fateful decision and, without losing their sovereignty, prepare for joining the Union State of Russia and Belarus,” Arshba stated in his lengthy piece published in Republic of Abkhazia newspaper.

Otherwise, Arshba warned, “we will all be involved in the processes of further destruction of the nation and the Abkhaz state.”

In his remarks, former Abkhaz vice-president also criticized incumbent leader Aslan Bzhania’s administration for mulling over “political and economic cooperation with a hostile neighbor – Georgia,” which, Arshba said, is “very dangerous and destructive [step] for Abkhazia.”

“These forces might cause irreparable damage to the people and statehood of Abkhazia,” he warned.

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