On the 18th anniversary of the war in Abkazia how realistic do you think Abkhazia's reintegration into Georgia is?
Wednesday, September 28
"Hope never dies or dies later but I think this is not realistic at this stage but anything can happen. The thing we should understand is that with war and confrontation we will never achieve our goals. The key issue is to reset relations and contacts with Abkhazians themselves. Because we do not need any territory if the people living there would consider us as an enemy."
Vakhtang, student, 23
"Abkhazia will reintegrate with Georgia and the reason is very simple, Abkhazia is Georgia. It will take a long period of time and no one has any illusions that one day we will wake up and Georgia will be united but we should do everything to reintegrate our Tskhinvali and Sokhumi."
Levan, accountant, 29
"I am sure this will happen one day but I have a wish for it to happen in the near future, to return to our homes and continue living as we did before the war. I hope Georgians' dream will come true."
Manana, housewife, 54
“The political situation should first ripen in Georgia and then we can think of reintegration with Abkhazia or other related issues.”
Sandro, Political Analyst, 22
“Unfortunately I’m not optimistic about this issue at all because lots of controversial steps have been made in Georgian-Russian relations since 1993 and none of the sides have expressed enthusiasm for solving the post-war problems - on the contrary, the August war in 2008 had been the continuation of an 18-year-old story.”
Tamta, Lawyer, 36
“Unfortunately, I am not optimistic regarding this, as the current reality does not enable me to think so. Russians are strengthening their positions in the occupied regions of Georgia and without a miracle they will not leave those regions.”
Salome, Teacher, 32
“I want to believe that something will change positively in this regard, however I do not want to be far from reality. International community will not make Russia concede in this field, they only make supportive statements towards Georgian reintegration, which are empty words and nothing more, at the same time, we have no authority to act accordingly in this field, the government has just strained the situation more after August [2008] and now there are more Georgian areas in Russian hands than there were before the war.”
Nugzar, Historian, 51
“Well, if there are some fundamental changes in world policy in Georgian-Abkhazian relations, some positive changes are expected. However, with the current authorities of Georgia I do not expect such changes, as Russian ruling forces hate Saakashvili and will not talk to him, on the other hand, I do not think Ankvab has positive feeling towards our president. Time will show us, I hope that something will change positively.”
Nana, Sociologist, 51
Vakhtang, student, 23
"Abkhazia will reintegrate with Georgia and the reason is very simple, Abkhazia is Georgia. It will take a long period of time and no one has any illusions that one day we will wake up and Georgia will be united but we should do everything to reintegrate our Tskhinvali and Sokhumi."
Levan, accountant, 29
"I am sure this will happen one day but I have a wish for it to happen in the near future, to return to our homes and continue living as we did before the war. I hope Georgians' dream will come true."
Manana, housewife, 54
“The political situation should first ripen in Georgia and then we can think of reintegration with Abkhazia or other related issues.”
Sandro, Political Analyst, 22
“Unfortunately I’m not optimistic about this issue at all because lots of controversial steps have been made in Georgian-Russian relations since 1993 and none of the sides have expressed enthusiasm for solving the post-war problems - on the contrary, the August war in 2008 had been the continuation of an 18-year-old story.”
Tamta, Lawyer, 36
“Unfortunately, I am not optimistic regarding this, as the current reality does not enable me to think so. Russians are strengthening their positions in the occupied regions of Georgia and without a miracle they will not leave those regions.”
Salome, Teacher, 32
“I want to believe that something will change positively in this regard, however I do not want to be far from reality. International community will not make Russia concede in this field, they only make supportive statements towards Georgian reintegration, which are empty words and nothing more, at the same time, we have no authority to act accordingly in this field, the government has just strained the situation more after August [2008] and now there are more Georgian areas in Russian hands than there were before the war.”
Nugzar, Historian, 51
“Well, if there are some fundamental changes in world policy in Georgian-Abkhazian relations, some positive changes are expected. However, with the current authorities of Georgia I do not expect such changes, as Russian ruling forces hate Saakashvili and will not talk to him, on the other hand, I do not think Ankvab has positive feeling towards our president. Time will show us, I hope that something will change positively.”
Nana, Sociologist, 51