Georgian sea blockade of Abkhazia
The Georgian sea blockade of Abkhazia has been in force since 2004, when it was ordered to be imposed by
Twenty-three cargo ships were detained in the Black Sea by the
Reactions
On 2 September 2009, President of Abkhazia
The Georgian Foreign Minister, Grigol Vashadze, said Bagapsh was a criminal and it was up to Georgian law enforcement agencies to respond to his threats.[5] The Georgian authorities said Russia was behind the Abkhaz side's threat.[6]
Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry said, on September 3, 2009, further seizure of cargo ships en route to Abkhazia by Georgian coast guard may cause “serious armed incidents” and blamed Georgia for possible escalation.[6] Earlier, Deputy head of Russian Federal Security Service border guard department, Yevgeny Inchin, said on August 28, 2009, that a unit of the Russian border guards in Abkhazia would be dispatched to provide security for ships entering Abkhazia.[6] This statement was denounced by Georgia as a violation of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.[6]
European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) said on September 2, 2009, that it was concerned about the statements by the Georgian, Abkhaz, and Russian sides on the matter and the issue was to be included in the agenda of the meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) scheme between the sides planned for September 8 in Gali.[6]
References
- ^ "Абхазия начинает морскую войну с Грузией" (in Russian). МК. 2 September 2009. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ "Georgia threatens Abkhazia over sea-trade". Financial Times. 2009-08-20. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ "Buket's Turkish operator appeals Georgian jail term for captain". RIA Novosti. 2009-09-02. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ "Abkhazia threatens Georgian ships". BBC News. 2009-09-02. Retrieved 2009-09-02.
- ^ Georgian FM: Bagapsh is a Criminal. Civil Georgia. September 2, 2009
- ^ a b c d e Russian Warns Georgia Against Ship Seizures. Civil Georgia. September 3, 2009