On the second anniversary of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, the government in Tbilisi has accepted Russian occupation of their provinces — for now.
Georgia's state minister for reintegration, Temuri Yakobashvili, said in an exclusive interview that there were contacts between his offices and the de facto authorities in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and he was focusing on ways to integrate the economies and populations of Georgia and the provinces that are still hosting close to 10,000 Russian soldiers.
"I don't have a crystal ball to tell you about the timeline," Mr. Yakobashvili told The Washington Times. "These are necessary ingredients and policies to deal with a population living under occupation. We have to deal with the population anyway. It will take five years, 15 years or three years, I don't know. It's politics. I believe this does not have to take as long as the unification of Germany after World War II, but it's not going to happen overnight, either."
His view in some ways differs from the Georgian government's position in the aftermath of the war with Russia that began Aug. 7, 2008, when Georgian troops entered South Ossetia, a province that has sought independence from Georgia since the era of the Soviet Union. Russian troops poured into Georgia on Aug. 8, and Russian troops have stayed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to this day. The local South Ossetian defense minister is a former colonel in the Russian military.
In 2008 and 2009, President Mikhail Saakashvili tried to rally the international community to pressure Russia to abide by a French-brokered cease-fire requiring all troops to return to prewar positions. Russia, however, has kept its soldiers in the Georgian territories and has started to build permanent bases.
On the diplomatic front, Moscow recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia shortly after the war and has encouraged allies to do the same.
Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria, in an interview, said Georgians today view the war as a victory, in the sense that Russia did not succeed in toppling the Saakashvili government and their country is still politically independent from Moscow.
"It has never been about the struggle in the provinces. It was about the whole country," he said. "Those occupied territories are an instrument for Russia to get back control of the region."
For now, a higher priority for Georgia is a diplomatic campaign to persuade other states not to recognize the independence of the two provinces hosting Russian soldiers.
Last month, the International Court of Justice recognized the independence of Kosovo, a majority Albanian province of Serbia that former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic attempted to cleanse of Albanians.
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