South Ossetia plans to join Russia
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South Ossetia President has said that uniting with Russia is "our strategic goal, our path, the aspiration of the people."
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Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Anatoly Bibilov, South Ossetia President, during a meeting on March 6, 2019. (AFP)
On Wednesday, Anatoly Bibilov, the president of South Ossetia said that the territory would work on becoming part of Russia in the near future.
Bibilov was quoted as saying, “I believe that unification with Russia is our strategic goal, our path, the aspiration of the people," adding that “we will take the relevant legal steps in the near future. The republic of South Ossetia will be part of its historical homeland – Russia.”
South Ossetia has all the necessary legal grounds to join Russia, Alan Tadtayev, South Ossetian parliament speaker, told TASS on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov said the country will take legal steps for joining Russia in the near future, calling for holding a referendum to this end.
"South Ossetia chose the path of independence for itself at the cost of very big losses and very big inconveniences, we all know that," Tadtayev said. "It achieved independence and its recognition by the Russian Federation in 2008."
"South Ossetia has all the legal grounds to join the Russian Federation," he continued.
He stated that the referendums, which have been held in South Ossetia, warrant the statement that "the people of South Ossetia have always been with Russia and aspire to join the Russian Federation."
Tadtayev also noted that since 1774, when Ossetia joined Russia, there hasn’t been a single document declaring its secession from Russia.
"There hasn’t been a single document since 1774 whereby South Ossetia seceded from the Russian Federation as some separate entity or territory," the speaker said. "This must also be taken into account."
Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on August 26, 2008, after Georgia’s armed aggression against Tskhinval. The leaders of Russia have said more than once that the recognition of the independence of these two former autonomies of Georgia reflected the existing realities and was not subject to revision. Tbilisi has refused to recognize the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to this day.
