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The conflicts: What you need to know

Today’s South Ossetian and Abkhazian conflicts have their roots in nadze, Georgia’s former first party secretary.T he fighting escalated in Georgia’s pursuit of independence in the late 1980s and the collapse 1992 and tensions spread to North in the Russian Federation. of the Union in 1991. Russian President pressed Shevardnadze to conclude a peace agreement with the South in June 1992. Approxi- Under the ’s esoteric federal structure, and South mately 1,000 died as a consequence of the war and many more fled Ossetia had been quasi-autonomous subunits of the Georgian Soviet their homes, including Ossetians living in other parts of Georgia. Socialist (1989 population: 5.4 million, according to the that year), itself one of the 15 constituent of the Soviet The conflict in Abkhazia (population: 525,000, according to Union. For much of the Soviet period this arrangement was only occa- the 1989 Soviet census) was entirely a postindependence war, sionally a source of ethnic and inter-elite friction. But the Soviet Union in contrast to the conflict in . After the 1989 began to fray in the late 1980s and pursued ever-greater sover- violence, tensions between and Abkhaz were partially eignty , especially after Soviet troops violently suppressed alleviated by a power-sharing deal struck under Gamsakhurdia. It peaceful demonstrators on 9, 1989, resulting in 19 deaths. A provided for disproportionate representation in Abkhazia’s political zero-sum dynamic between the Georgian drive for independence and institutions to the Abkhaz, who according to the 1989 census were the Abkhaz and South Ossetian preference for maintaining a reformed 18 percent of Abkhazia’s population compared to 46 percent who Soviet Union, coupled with demagogic on all sides, led to rising were ethnic Georgians, many of whom had settled in Abkhazia insecurities and perceptions of ethnic victimization. during czarist and Soviet rule.

Georgians increasingly identified Abkhaz and Ossetians as pro-Soviet Upon Georgia’s independence the Abkhaz sought a loose confederal “fifth columns” as Abkhaz and South Ossetians worked to remain part arrangement. Tbilisi failed to consider it and Abkhazia’s power- of a crumbling Soviet Union. Until 1991 their dispute manifested itself sharing arrangement broke down as the Abkhaz prepared to unilater- through a “” (with the and Tbilisi passing laws ally implement their plan. to countermand each other’s), public , and occasional bouts of low-level conflict. A tragic example of this conflict came in July 1989 The war itself began in 1992 in confused circumstances. when a dispute over dividing the Abkhazian State University led to Georgian forces crossed into Abkhazia to free Georgian officials taken ethnic clashes that killed at least 16. hostage by Gamsakhurdia supporters, who had launched their own in the region of , which abuts Abkhazia. The troops Armed conflict broke out in South Ossetia (population: 98,500; 66 were tempted to settle two problems at once: free the officials and percent ethnic Ossetian, according to the 1989 Soviet census) in reestablish control over Abkhazia. They pushed on toward but 1991, a year before the Soviet Union’s collapse. The met armed Abkhaz resistance. before, the first post-Communist Georgian government under abolished South Ossetia’s status as an “autonomous Georgian forces controlled Sukhumi during much of the war while region” of Georgia in response to South Ossetia’s own declaration of resisting Abkhaz forces and allies from who sought to retake “” from the independence-leaning authorities in Tbilisi. the city from the north. The Abkhaz finally retook Sukhumi in War broke out when Tbilisi sent armed forces to reassert control in September 1993. As the Georgian army retreated, virtually all of South Ossetia. Abkhazia’s ethnic Georgian population (approximately 220,000) were forced to flee in its wake.T hreatened with further destabilization in The South Ossetian conflict was really a series of intermittent battles Mingrelia, Georgia reluctantly joined the Russia-initiated Common- largely among informal militia. It stretched past the Soviet Union’s wealth of Independent States, or CIS. A agreement was final days and through Georgia’s short-lived that saw the signed under Russian auspices in 1994. demise of Gamsakhurdia and the return to power of Eduard Shevard-

6 Center for American Progress | A More Proactive U.S. Approach to the Georgia Conflicts Timeline of the Georgia Conflicts Russia subsequently dominated the peacekeeping also raised fears of new war, restricted trade and structures responsible for preventing a renewed social interaction across conflict lines and among 1989 outbreak of hostilities. The South Ossetian ceasefire communities, and increased the South Ossetian and Ethnic Abkhaz convene a forum agreement introduced a joint peacekeeping force Abkhazian authorities’ suspicions about the Geor- advocating formation of an Abkhazian Soviet republic separate of 1,500 , Georgians, and Ossetians. In gian government’s intentions. It also generated an from Soviet Georgia. Georgians Abkhazia a predominantly Russian CIS peacekeeping acceleration of ’s efforts to prevent Georgia counterprotest and are forcibly force implemented the agreement. These were from imposing its writ over the two regions. dispersed by Soviet forces. joined by two small international missions of the 1990 Organization for Security and Cooperation in , This shift in the status quo was followed two years The South Ossetian or OSCE (in South Ossetia), and the later by Georgia’s seizure of Abkhazia’s remote and forms a separate South Ossetian Soviet republic. Georgia’s (in Abkhazia). ungoverned Upper Gorge, which led to a legislature abolishes South Ossetia’s halt in conflict resolution talks between the govern- autonomous status in response. This approach to conflict resolution characterized ment and the Abkhazian by Russian-dominated peacekeeping forces with authorities. Tbilisi also estab- 1991−1992 some international observers made sense in early lished an “alternative” South As the Soviet Union collapses, clashes between Georgians and years. The structures that emerged, however, led to Ossetian-led government in South Ossetians ensue with 1,000 stalemates instead of progress toward resolution, the villages under its control. lives lost. A ceasefire agreement allows for Russian peacekeepers

earning these conflicts the “frozen” label. Within this The Georgian government P hoto

AP in the region. context the sides largely avoided further bloodshed further demanded interna- and occasionally reached agreement in the spheres tionalization of the peace- 1992−1993 of trade, transport, and the return of a small number keeping forces. War between Abkhaz and Georgians of internally displaced persons. However, Georgia claims at least 8,000 lives and the denounced as “creeping annexation” the issuing of The escalation of the two dislocation of more than 200,000. A ceasefire agreement allows for Russian to residents of Abkhazia and South conflicts was not the only a mainly Russian contingent P hoto

Ossetia, the practice of “seconding” Russian officials source of tension between AP of peacekeepers. to their governments, and increasing Russian invest- Moscow and Tbilisi, however. ment in both. Prior to 2004 many irritants Pictured (from left to right) are May–August 2004 already existed in Russia- Abkhaz leader , Newly elected Georgian President launches an Georgia’s Rose of 2003, which brought Georgia relations. These Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and Georgian President Eduard antismuggling operation in South President Mikheil Saakashvili to power, marked a included Georgian partici- Shevardnadze after talks in Ossetia. The worst fighting in the new phase in the conflicts. President Saakashvili pation in the construction Moscow in September 1992. region in 12 years ensues. made clear upon assuming office that he intended of the -Tbilisi- to peacefully restore Georgia’s . His oil pipeline, which created 2006 Moscow bans import of Georgian statements were accompanied by a soft power offen- the first means for Caspian and mineral water. After the sive, including new conflict resolution proposals. But oil to reach the Georgian government announces his summer 2004 antismuggling operation in South without passing through the arrest of four Russian officers accused of spying, Russia suspends Ossetia convinced many there and in Moscow that Russia; Russian allegations all transportation links with Georgia his intention was actually to achieve reunification by of Chechen terrorists finding and deports migrant workers amidst deposing the local authorities. safe haven on Georgian what appeared to be a campaign of intimidation against ethnic P hoto

territory; and increased AP . The low-level conflict that resulted ended with U.S. military support to the all the ethnic Georgian-populated villages in the Georgian armed forces. Deported Georgians disembark from region under Georgian government control. But it Georgia also accelerated its a Russian Emergency Situations Ministry plane on arrival in Tbilisi.

The Georgia conflicts: What you need to know | www.americanprogress.org 7 integration with NATO after them out” —a promise followed by heavy fighting. –8, 2008 the and On the night of August 7, Georgian artillery began Following several days of firefights it sought greater commit- shelling the regional capital, , and the next between Georgian and South Ossetian forces, the August war ments for a clear path to morning Georgian troops and tanks began a ground formally begins with the Georgian membership against Russia’s assault that took the city. shelling of Tskhinvali and Russia’s strong objections. invasion of Georgia. P hoto AP That same day Russian tanks entered Tskhinvali and Russian aircraft launched a four-day bombing , 2008 A ceasefire agreement is signed in The relationship was further campaign. Georgian and Russian forces—along Moscow by Russian President Dmitri strained in the following with the South Ossetian militia—fought for control Medvedev and French President years. The Georgian govern- of Tskhinvali for two days but the Georgian troops . ment accused Russia of were ultimately overwhelmed. They retreated on sabotaging gas and elec- August 10 and were pursued by the Russian troops. August 26, 2008 Russia recognizes Abkhazia and tricity transit to Georgia, and More than 20,000 ethnic Georgians fled their homes P hoto

South Ossetia as independent states. AP of engaging in other acts and villages, many of which were subsequently of violence. Russia banned destroyed. Meanwhile, Abkhaz and Russian forces August 2009 and mineral opened a second front in Abkhazia, driving Georgian After year-long procedures, Georgia water on “phytosanitary” grounds in the forces and some 2,000 residents from Upper Kodori. leaves the of Independent States in 2006. And Georgian authorities arrested four Russian troops also crossed from Abkhazia into Russian military officers on charges of espionage Mingrelia, occupying Georgia’s main port at . in September. Moscow responded by severing Georgian forces abandoned Gori, a large town south January 27, 2010 Georgia releases a strategy for transportation links between the two countries and of Tskhinvali, on August 11. The Russian advance peaceful engagement with Abkhazia deporting Georgian migrant workers amidst what halted on the road to Tbilisi. and South Ossetia. appeared to be a campaign of intimidation against ethnic Georgians in Russia. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, holding the March 1, 2010 rotating EU presidency at the time, flew to Moscow The Russia-Georgia land border reopens. Tensions were building in and around Abkhazia and on August 12 to negotiate a ceasefire.T he agree- South Ossetia as well. But in 2008 shootouts and ment was signed in slightly different forms by all the

August 23, 2010 roadside bombs in South Ossetia throughout the parties and the Russian command announced the Direct Moscow-Tbilisi commercial summer heightened frictions to a degree unseen beginning of troop withdrawal on August 18. Presi- flights resume. since 2004. When Georgian forces newly dent Dmitri Medvedev declared Russia’s recognition certain strategic heights of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states 23, 2010 South Ossetian leader Eduard on August 26.

President Saakashvili renounces P hoto the use of force in a speech to the AP Kokoity promised to “clean European . Abkhazian and South Ossetian authorities subsequently issue their own statements on the nonuse of force.

8 Center for American Progress | A More Proactive U.S. Approach to the Georgia Conflicts The conflicts have had a impact on the The Georgian population favors a long-term, demography of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. peaceful resolution to the conflicts with Abkhazia 2 Populations have declined significantly since the late Soviet and South Ossetia. period largely due to the displacement of ethnic Georgians.1 94% Abkhazia Percentage of Georgians who support nego- tiations and peaceful means to resolve the conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia

525,000 3% South Ossetia 3% Percentage of Georgians who support No opinion the use of force 98,000 214,000 30,000 Percentage of Georgians who believe reintegration with 3 1989 2003 1989 2010 28% Abkhazia and South Ossetia is possible in 10 years or less.

Russia has significantly increased its military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia since the 2008 conflict

Abkhazia before 2008 conflict: Abkhazia in 2010: South Ossetia South Ossetia As many as 1,800 Russian CIS peacekeepers4 As many as 3,700 troops5 before 2008 conflict: in 2010: 500 peacekeepers As many as 3,700 troops6

The details of Russia’s deployments have not Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s economies are been made public. completely dependent on Russian support. 99% 98.7% ? ? ? of foreign invest- of the South Ossetia Number of Quantity of military Number of ment in Abkhazia authorities’ budget border guards equipment intelligence officials is from Russia7 was financed by Russia in 20098

1 source for 1989 numbers: Soviet Union census data 5 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation 2 Georgian National Study, October 5, 2009 6 Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation 3 survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner for the United 7 International Crisis Group National Movement, July 7-15, 2010, based on 1200 interviews. 8 International Crisis Group 4 International Crisis Group

The Georgia conflicts: What you need to know | www.americanprogress.org 9