In 1990 South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia. On Jan. 5-6, 1991 Georgian forces entered the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. Violence broke out, and on July 14, 1992 a peace force comprising Russian, Georgian and North and South Ossetian forces entered the region to maintain a cease-fire. On April 8, 2001 a new constitution was adopted following a referendum. The Russian language was accepted as an official language along with Ossetian.
After Mikheil Saakashvili became Georgia's president, he put an emphasis on the territorial integrity of the country. In June 2004 he announced the Reconciliation with Ossetia Plan and took decisions to pay attention to economic projects in the region.
South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia following two separate referendums in 1993 and 2001. On Nov. 12, 2006 presidential elections and a referendum on independence were held. Eduard Kokoity was re-elected as president of South Ossetia. In parallel with these elections, Dmitry Sanakoev was elected president of South Ossetia in an election supported by Tbilisi. Saakashvili headed to the region on March 19, 2007 and met with Sanakoev; following the meeting, he called for the establishment of an administrative unit in South Ossetia. To this end, a bill was referred to the Georgian Parliament. Under the draft, Kokoity and Sanakoev were asked to create an interim administrative structure that would work on the autonomous structure of the region; under the same draft, the interim unit is to have the authority to assign deputy ministers of internal affairs, finance, economy, science and education, health and social security, culture, agriculture, justice and environment. The draft further provides for the implementation of rehabilitation projects and the preparation of a special financial package for regional development. Following the declaration of independence in Kosovo on Feb. 18, 2008, the South Ossetian Parliament made calls to the Russian Federation, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the UN and the EU to recognize its independence on March 3, 2008.
That membership in NATO was denied to Georgia at the NATO summit held in Bucharest on April 2-4, 2008 has disappointed the Georgians. The de facto obstacle before Georgia's integration with the Euro-Atlantic world (NATO and EU membership) is the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. For this reason, Saakashvili, Georgia's ambitious and young president, may resort to violence and use coercion in both regions to consolidate his power and open the membership doors to NATO and the EU by integrating these regions with Georgia. However, the real factor that made Saakashvili rely on violence against Abkhazia and South Ossetia may be the Kremlin because both Saakashvili and the opposition support integration with the Euro-Atlantic world in Georgia. The Kremlin, which favors neither war nor peace in the southern Caucasus, may hold that Georgia will reconsider approaching the Russian Federation only after a defeat in war.
Suspending dialogue between Georgia-Abkhazia and South Ossetia causes an escalation of tension between the parties. To ensure the maintenance of sustainable peace in the southwestern Caucasus and to prevent disputes in the region, it is first necessary to gradually decrease the tension. Otherwise, if Saakashvili wants to resolve the Abkhazian and South Ossetian problems, he may have to deal with these problems together with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev alone.
