Putin signs treaty that integrates S. Ossetia into Russia

Having annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, Russia has signed a treaty to integrate South Ossetia in Georgia, which is causing strong backlash from America and European nations.

The AFP reported Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Ossetian President Leonid Tibilov signed an “alliance and integration treaty” on Wednesday in Moscow that calls for integration of South Ossetia’s military and economy into Russia. Under the treaty, Russia can protect the boarder of South Ossetia that declared its independence from Georgia and South Ossetians can obtain Russian citizenship. The treaty also stated that the boarder of South Ossetia will be open and customs be integrated.

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili denounced the signing as a "destructive" move that goes against his nation’s sovereignty and is a process to integrate the nation’s territory into Russia.

The U.S. and European countries have strongly condemned the signing as well. In her statement, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, “The United States does not recognize the legitimacy of any so-called “treaty” between the de facto leaders of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation. Neither this agreement nor the one signed between Russia and the de facto leaders in Abkhazia in November 2014 constitutes a valid international agreement.”

Jens Stoltenberg, secretary-general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, said, “It violates Georgia`s sovereignty and territorial integrity and blatantly contradicts the principles of international law.”

As Russia is strengthening its control over South Ossetian regions, there are growing concerns that territorial dispute that has been lurking since the end of Russo-Georgian War in 2008 would spark off again. In 2008, Russia provoked an armed conflict by dropping bombs in Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi in the name of protecting Russian nation in South Ossetian regions. Since then, Russian military has been stationed in the region but the territory has not been recognized as an independent state from the international community.

Against this backdrop, China`s official Xinhua news agency quoted Georgia’s Ministry of Defense saying that the nation would carry out a joint military exercise with the U.S. in May.

viyonz@donga.com