Opinion from Abkhazia: Oasis of peace instead of a 'second front'
Georgia will not open a “second front” in Abkhazia
Editor of JAMnews in Abkhazia, Inal Khashig, comments on the statements of the Georgian authorities who said that Tbilisi was not going to start hostilities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and thereby open a “second front” for the war in Ukraine. Tbilisi also added that it considered the opportunities for cooperation that open up in the region during the crisis.
Now, when in the context of the Ukrainian crisis, politicians are eagerly competing on who will add more fuel to the furnace of war, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili looks almost like a “black sheep”.
The idea of opening a “second front” to spite Russia, and thereby once and for all solve the “Abkhazian” and “South Ossetian” problem, as the excited masses desire, looks, of course, quite “modern”, but in reality it would be an absolutely irresponsible thing to do.
Garibashvili in this regard, (no matter what he is accused of), is absolutely adequate in his statements. For this very “second front” project, if implemented, could cost Georgia not only the second “Mariupol”, as the Georgian Prime Minister assessed it, but something more – the statehood itself.
Georgia, no matter what forces stand behind it and support it, will not survive a new military adventure. Third-party forces will not suffer much, but Georgia, as a sovereign state, may cease to exist.
However, the same applies to Abkhazia.
In this battle of the big players – Russia and the collective West – it is wiser to keep your gunpowder dry in powder flasks. Moreover, it is better to forget about its existence at all during this period.
That is, it is more expedient to put all the accumulated negative energy into a creative channel – otherwise, it will be hard to survive this period.
So, the recipe for the survival of Georgia, and not only Georgia, but the entire region of the South Caucasus, in this difficult time for the world, is not in opening of the “second fronts”, but in creating an oasis of peace and stable development of the region.
It is clear that Tbilisi will not find a common ground with Sukhum and Tskhinval in matters of the status of the territories either in the near or in the distant future, but in other areas cooperation is quite possible.
Moreover, in the current situation of the global crisis, the ideas of unblocking transport corridors, creating new logistics centers and all kinds of other economic and humanitarian cooperation look like quite promising anti-crisis measures.
And in this regard, the global world crisis around Ukraine is not only a big bunch of problems and challenges, but also a small window of opportunity. At least for Georgia and Abkhazia, there is a chance to transfer their canned conflict to a different, more creative plane.
And this must opportunity must be seized. Otherwise, when everything is already on fire, there will always be those who want to open a “second front”.
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