Hearings in State Duma on unrecognized republics: “Nobody spoke against recognition” — Expert

Read it in Russian

Results of the parliamentary hearings on the status of unrecognized republics that were held today, March 13, in the State Duma of the Russian Federation, could be described as rather optimistic, member of the Public Chamber of the Republic of North Ossetia, professor at the North Ossetian State University Ruslan Bzarov told in an interview to a REGNUM correspondent.

In his words, a need to set strategic goals for the Russian policy in this field was clearly articulated. In particular, Bzarov believes, today's discussions on the subject of Russia's relations with unrecognized republics demonstrated “a transition from words to action, from discussions of what is already known to everybody – formulas of special status, that 90% of the population of the unrecognized states are Russia's citizens – to developing concrete decisions.”

At the same time, the Ossetian civil activist accounts, the dominating theme in the foreign policy expert discourse, including reports of deputies of the State Duma, was the necessity to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, including the option of immediate recognition.

“Nobody spoke against recognition. Most competent and valid suggestions were arguing exactly for immediate recognition of the states. In this sense, regardless of what document is issued by the CIS Committee that will revise the conclusion project and add to it its own recommendations, the common direction in which the deputies were moving during the discussion is distinctive.”

Bzarov confirmed statements of deputies Konstantin Zatulin and Alexey Ostrovsky about several options of the future parliamentary resolution on the matter being on the table. “I think that the most radical option is not likely to be passed, but I have no doubt that the statement of the indispensability of recognition will be included in it in any case.”

The notion of the “delayed status,” according to Bzarov, was mentioned just once during the hearings, “not in the most favorable context, as a possible but less foresighted option.”