De facto Authority Unpleasant by Stoltenberg’s Statements in Tbilisi
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, March 27
The de facto authority of Georgia’s western, Russian-occupied Abkhazia region is unpleasant by the statements made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Tbilisi that Russia must withdraw its forces from the two occupied regions of Georgia Abkhazia and Tskhinvali.
The de facto leadership claims that such statements encourage Georgia to “act aggressively” and stir confrontations.
The Abkhaz de facto authorities also claim that NATO-Georgia exercises are a challenge for Abkhazian security.
Stoltenberg visited Georgia on March 24-25 to attend the largest scale ever NATO-Georgia exercise being held near Tbilisi.
While in Tbilisi he urged Russia to suspend the occupation of Georgian lands and withdraw its forces from historic Georgian regions.
Russia claims that the regions “are independent republics” and it only provides support to ensure the safety of its allies.
The Russian President Vladimir Putin told Fox News last year that Russia would react "extremely negatively” to the membership of Georgia and Ukraine in NATO.
“For us, well, it is a direct and immediate threat to our national security,” Putin said and added that moving NATO infrastructure towards Russian borders "is a threat” for his country.
Putin stated that he was concerned by the expansion of NATO’s facilities and infrastructure.
The NATO-Georgia exercise, which launched on March 18 is comprised of 21 allied nations and three NATO partner nations, including Georgia as the host nation, more than 350 soldiers are involved.
