Shamba: Abkhaz Students in Russia Are Required to Enlist in Military Commissions
On December 13, the de-facto foreign minister of occupied Abkhazia, Sergei Shamba said that Russia now requires Abkhazian students studying in Russia to enlist in military commissions of the Russian Federation.
The requirement affects people who have so-called dual citizenship – one Russian and a second de facto “citizenship” of the occupied Abkhazia. Shamba said that they enroll in higher education institutions as foreigners, but because they also have Russian citizenship, they are required to enlist.
He said the requirement is not something new “only for a while they [Russians] treated [this issue] loyally, closing their eyes to it, not demanding it. Now they are demanding it. This does not mean that they will be drafted into the army immediately, but after graduation, if the law on [so-called] dual citizenship does not come into force by then, they can be drafted into the army if they stay in Russia,” he explained.
Shamba reported that the resolution of this issue is being delayed because of the need for an additional decree from the Russian president regulating “the expedited granting of Russian citizenship”.
Shamba noted that despite the fact that his own grandson had also been ordered to report to a military commission, this development made him happy in a way, because now Abkhaz students won’t stay in Russia after graduation and will return home. He admited that there are no jobs in Abkhazia, but said: ‘Well, there’s no point in hanging around there [in Russia] either.
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