Abkhazia worried by Georgia's 'preparations for war'
15:48 26/01/2011
SUKHUMI, January 26 (RIA Novosti) - Abkhazia is concerned over the Georgian president's declaration that his country is at war, the republic's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.
"Georgia also confirmed that its armed forces held intensive drills for a new large-scale military provocation against Abkhazia," the Foreign Ministry added.
Abkhazia, along with South Ossetia, broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s. Georgian forces attempted to bring South Ossetia back under central control in August 2008, but were repelled by the Russian military. Russia subsequently recognized both republics, but only Nicaragua, Venezuela and the tiny island nation of Nauru have so far followed suit.
Speaking to the PIK TV channel, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili also reportedly said that he would "celebrate the next New Year in Sukhumi," the capital of the former Georgian republic.
Abkhazian diplomats say Georgia's policies prove that Saakashvili's recent pledge to the European Parliament that he would not use force over South Ossetia and Abkhazia were nothing but an attempt to mask his plans to restart a military campaign.
In his November address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Saakashvili said Georgia would "never use force to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty and will only use peaceful means to ensure the withdrawal of the occupation forces and its reunification."
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