Rising tensions in Georgia
Saturday 05 September 2009By EU Reporter Correspondents
Tensions are rising in Georgia, as the country's military are accused of piracy and of breaking the so-called Medvedev-Sarkozy ceasefire agreement, brokered after last year's conflict.
Russian Foreign Minister spokesman Andrey Nesterenko has warned Tbilisi about the practice of seizing ships bound for Abkhazia, calling Georgia's behaviour “nothing other than outrageous violation of the Law of the Sea Convention of 1982 and acts of international lawlessness”.
Georgia still regards Abkhazia as its own territory, and is impounding ships that attempt to sail there. This is causing very real problems, as Abkhazia is dependent on imported fuel, and President Bagapsh took the step on wednesday of ordering his forces to attack Georgian ships entering Abkaz waters.Abkhazia's navy is small, with just a handful of patrol vessels, but the Georgian navy is also weak, and Bagapsh has stated that Russian help will not be necessary, although the Russian coastguard has made a commitment to protect Abkhaz waters. Political backing from Moscow, however, will be vital, and there is a very real chance that any conflict could quickly escalate to include land forces, which would make Russian involvement inevitable.
23 ships have so far been seized, with the skipper of one Turkish vessel receiving a 24 year prison sentence for "smuggling". Turkey is Abkhazia's most important trading partner.
Last weekend, Russian forces in South Ossetia claimed that Georgian artillery had fired on one of their observation posts. "In case of further provocations threatening the republic's population and the Russian military contingent deployed in South Ossetia, the ministry retains the right to use all available means and forces to defend the nationals of South Ossetia and Russian servicemen," Russia's defence ministry has warned.
Georgia has denied the attacks ever took place.
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