Sokhumi: "Abkhazian border under reliable protection"

On March 9, Inal Ardzinba, the de-facto Foreign Minister of separatist Abkhazia, commented on the situation in Georgia.

Sokhumi considers what is happening in Georgia another attempt to forcefully overthrow the government in the post-Soviet space. "The so-called peaceful protesters are actively using direct actions: Molotov cocktails, street closures, and other forms of aggressive behavior. This clearly indicates that they are well instructed by the US State Department and the relevant departments of the US Embassy in Tbilisi. In addition, we traditionally note the destructive role of NGOs in the preparation of these events," Ardzinba stated.

He stressed that the [separatist] President of Abkhazia carries out operational monitoring of the situation and is in constant contact with the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of Abkhazia and the leadership of the State Security Service.

"Our state border is under the reliable protection of the Abkhazian and Russian special units. We presume that the security system in our region will remain stable," the head of the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry concluded.

Response from Russia

Dmitry Peskov, the Press Secretary of the President of Russia, said that the situation in Georgia, in which there were mass riots due to the adoption of a law on foreign agents, is of concern in Russia.

"Despite the fact that we do not have relations with Georgia as such, still, of course, the state of affairs there cannot but cause us concern. Of course, it is important for us that there is calm on our borders, the situation here now, of course, leaves much to be desired," Peskov said. He stressed that the Kremlin has nothing to do with the bill on foreign agents and that the United States pioneered in introducing such legislation.