More than a quarter century has passed since the start of armed conflicts in the South Caucasus. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, dozens of conflicts emerged in former Soviet countries. 

The conflicts over Abkhazia and South Ossetia have endured unresolved for almost 30 years. 

Georgia’s new headaches are the “borderization” activities carried out by Russian troops along South Ossetia’s dividing line since 2008 — i.e. installing fences, barbed wires, and border signs — and detention of Georgian citizens at unmarked segments of the line.

Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts

Missed opportunities — this is how expert in conflicts and Georgia’s former State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality, Paata Zakareishvili assessed the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-Ossetian conflicts.

So far, the only international format where the conflicts have been discussed is the Geneva International Talks. These discussions launched in 2008 after the Russia-Georgia war, however even after the 50th round passed, the sides can’t reach agreement on fundamental issues.  

The only talks that can be considered a success of the Geneva discussion were the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings, which occurred in February 2009.

IPRM meetings, chaired by the UN, with the participation of European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM), were held in Gali in Abkhazia and Ergneti at the South Ossetia dividing line. These meetings were held to talk to one another about security issues and other matters that affect people living along the dividing lines. 

The IPRM was organised on a monthly basis, however the 57th Gali meeting was cancelled on 27 June 2018 and it is unknown when the talks will resume. 

An unacceptable topic for the Abkhaz side appeared Giga Otkhozoria’s case, who was killed in the village of Khurcha on Georgia-controlled territory four years ago. After not succeeding to remove the issue from the agenda, Abkhaz and Russian side left the discussions.

The Ergneti IPRM meeting also was postponed, however IPRM participants agreed to resume the dialogue from 30 July 2020.

For the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Georgian government is currently implementing a peace proposal, introduced in 2018, called ‘A Step to a Better Future’. 

The new peace initiative, welcomed by the European Union, the U.S and a number of Tbilisi-based ambassadors, was intended to enhance educational opportunities and simplify trade along a dividing line, which would improve the humanitarian, social, and economic conditions of locals.

However, the only move from Tbilisi that can be considered successful in its breakaway regions is the healthcare programme. 

In spite of Sukhum/i and Tskhinval/i authorities rejecting the program, the number of patients who come from Abkhazia and South Ossetia is not reducing. 

At the end of May, former Abkhaz leader Aleksander Anquab talked about an increased number of Abkhaz going for treatment in Georgia’s hospitals. He noted that they cannot prohibit parents of seriously ill children and others travelling for treatment, despite the dangers of coronavirus pandemic. The Georgian side has been placing all of them in quarantine for two weeks, which has not stopped people from Abkhazia from going to Georgian hospitals. 

Around 10 people died during one year in Akhalgori District because its inhabitants were denied emergency hospitalization in Tbilisi’s controlled territory. Jumber Miladze and Margo Martiashvili are two of them. 

Because Tskhinval/i hospital is in dreadful conditions, local doctors often address patients to Tbilisi, however relatives of ill persons cannot transport them due to the closure of the checkpoints, which in Tskhinvali’s case has been closed from September 4, 2019, before the coronavirus pandemic.  

In Abkhazia’s case it is possible to transfer critical patients to a Georgian clinic. However, ordinary patients are not able to cross the checkpoints due to internal Abkhazian regulations, leaving many without help of qualified doctors.

If the medical treatment program is running successfully most of  the time, we cannot say the same about the educational initiatives. The Georgian government fails to attract ethnic Abkhaz and Ossetian students to study in Georgian universities.

Though the Georgian government’s peace initiatives can be considered positive, the image of Georgia as the enemy is still popular in Tskhinvali/i and Sukhum/i. The peace initiatives have not changed the fact that post-war trauma is still active in breakaway regions.

According to Paata Zakareishvili, the responsibility of resolving the conflict should be placed on the state itself and that only after comes the importance of international support. 

Zakareishvili says that Georgia’s main problem is that the state doesn’t have established policy towards conflict regions, and Tbilisi's policy not to recognize Abkhaz and Ossetians as side of conflict and putting all blame on Russia doesn’t work.  

“I see how Russia tries to annex Abkhazian and Ossetian society and I am afraid that they will become part of Russia [similar to what happened in Crimea]. In Tskhinvali’s case it will be difficult, but our task should be to let more of Europe in Abkhazia, [which will] neutralize Russia[‘s influence].” 

We need to make bold decisions. No one knows how to speak with Abkhaz and Ossetians. What to say to them [that will not] be considered as betrayal of the state. Nowadays, we got this chance again in conditions of Bzhania/Anquab leadership. But I don’t see that Tbilisi is ready to talk to them”, told Zakareishvili Caucasus Watch. 

Even though a lot of time has passed since the 90's tragic events, Georgian political elite and society cannot assess what happened and why. 

The Georgian government's understanding of these two conflicts as merely one “Georgian-Russian conflict” is popular among the population, which is greatly followed by the Georgian media. 

Nowadays, responsible and ethical media in Georgia, which tries to bridge dividing communities, remains mostly online. In conditions of increasingly polarized TV, it is often very difficult to get the whole truth from the media. 

The largest part of conflict news from South Ossetian and Abkhazian media is biased and saturated with distortion, exaggeration of facts and hate speech. 

According to Zakareishvili, Georgia has the best chance to transform the conflict. First and foremost, Tbilisi has to start direct talks with Abkhaz and Ossetians, grow economically and democratise itself. 

Treatment of ethnic Georgians in the breakaway regions

However, placing all blame on Georgia wouldn't be fair and it needs to be mentioned how Georgians are treated in Abkhazia’s Gali and South Ossetia’s Akhalgori District, which are predominantly populated by ethnic Georgians. 

Thousands of Georgians fled during the 1992-93 war, yet most Mingrelians, a subgroup of ethnic Georgians, returned to Gali when the war ended. 

The ability to commute across the dividing line is vital for ethnic Georgians. According to the EUMM survey, 2, 580 people cross the Enguri Bridge checkpoint every day it is open. 

The life of returnees became a nightmare after 2008, when Russia recognized Abkhaz and South Ossetian independence. [All but five UN member states recognise the regions as a part of Georgia’s territory]. 

For ethnic Georgians it became obligatory to obtain an Abkhazian residence card, a document explicitly meant for foreign citizens. Residence permit also restricts their right, for example, to buy a new house, other property or just to vote.  

Apart from that, locals face many issues because they lack Abkhazian passports. Obtaining this residency document makes Georgians foreigners in their own land and it is incredibly difficult. 

In order to receive an Abkhaz passport, Sukhum/i requires ethnic Georgians to renounce their Georgian citizenship or change their names and register themselves as ethnic Abkhaz. 

Georgians see this policy as a way to force them to abandon their homes, making them feel unwelcome, frustrated and powerless in their homeland. 

Returnees are deprived of their rights to learn their native, Georgian language. The entire educational system in schools and kindergarten is based on books published in Moscow. The Georgian language is taught as a foreign language, with Gali district pupils learning Georgian for an hour or two a week.

While Abkhaz constitutions guarantees every ethnic group’s rights to study in their native language, for example, ethnic Armenians have Armenian-language schools in Abkhazia, that has not been the case for ethnic Georgians living in Gali and Akhalgori District.

A glimmer of hope for Gali’s Georgians appeared recently when the new leader of Abkhazia, Aslan Bzhania abolished the decision under which the amount of land tax for residents of Gali District was higher than other districts of Abkhazia.

The ombusperson of Abkhazia, Asida Shakryl, spoke about the issue in front of Abkhaz authorities and appealed for them to change the unequal decision prior to Bzhania’s ruling. 

What will be next steps of new leadership towards ethnic Georgian returnees, will they ensure freedom of movement, property rights, right to education in one’s mother tongue, and end ethnic based discrimination, which has occurred for a quarter of a century?

Contributed by Lana Kokaia