Elections in unrecognized republics are more democratic than those in metropolitan countries

PanARMENIAN.Net - "We have all the attributes for freedom and democracy, namely opposition, independent Mass Media, alternative elections," the president emphasized. It was immediately followed by announcements made by EU and USA. The President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili didn't keep aside either and announced, that "the attempt to legalize this anarchism must not be recognized neither by Georgia, nor by the World Community". Things are clear with Georgia - in fact it has almost de jure lost Abkhazia and South Ossetia, just like Azerbaijan has lost Nagorno-Karabakh, and Moldova has lost Transnistria. Strangely enough, elections in unrecognized republics are more democratic than those in metropolitan countries. The difference perhaps is that in the very situation the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, Transnistria decides itself how to live, while Azerbaijan, Georgia and Moldova have different principles, and the fact that those principles are not recognized in the world, doesn't prevent the international community to shut its eyes to them. Here the matter is not in particular "love" EU has for Ilham Aliyev or for Saakashvili; the matter is not even in energy vectors or military bases, but in the stability of the region. And unfortunately these are the presidents who can secure peace in two rather problematic countries of the Southern Caucasus. The most essential problem is the ethnic problem, and in this aspect the wish of the certain groups of the population, wanting to live in their own way may lead to chain reaction in Azerbaijan, where several large ethnic groups, which during the Soviet times were registered as Azerbaijani are settled. Those are the Talishs, the Lezghins, the Tats, and the Udins. The same problem exists in Georgia. If suddenly the World Community recognizes the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Transnistria, the future of the South Caucasus will be very problematic.

According to Sergei Bagapsh; "The World Community must finally realize that Abkhazia doesn't simply acquire democratic values, but also follows them". At the same time the Abkhazian authorities don't expect Georgia's consent, but they still hope to count on the international recognition of the republic. "Even the strongest autonomy - it is already a past phase", says the Security Council secretary of the unrecognized republic Stanislav Lakoba, "Other political approaches should be developed."

It should be mentioned that the President Saakashvili has mentioned more than once, that he intends to gain back his power over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These announcements are not taken seriously in Abkhazia, just like Ilham Aliyev's announcements over the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh are not.

As for announcement made by EU, it speaks of nothing else than "the complete support of Georgia's territorial integrity". According to Europe's position "Georgian elections in the region will be recognized only after all the refugees are granted the right to safely return home." The declaration of the EU was also supported by the EU candidate-countries - Turkey, Croatia and Macedonia, as well as by other European countries including Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Ukraine, and Moldova.

The reasons EU has adopted the above mentioned position are clear - it has its own problems; such as the Basque issue, the issue of the Irish of Dublin, the Francophones of Belgium, which are not against getting apart either. This whole story reminds Moscow's position at the beginning of the Karabakh conflict; the same fear regarding the chain reaction. But the most important edification is that in spite of all preventive measures, the USSR clove into a number of countries, which are falling apart in their own turn. The delayed-action mine, placed during the establishment of the USSR will still display its effects for a rather long time, unless the very Georgia and Azerbaijan realize that the territorial integrity of their countries is not the truth of the ultimate authority.