SUKHUM, August 8 (Itar-Tass) —— Foreign Minister of Abkhazia Maxim Gvindzhia believes that the presence of the Russian military contingent in Abkhazia is a factor which ensures not only security in Abkhazia, but also promotes stabilization of the situation in the whole region, the minister said in his comment at Itar-Tass request on an agreement on the presence of Russia’s joint military base on the territory of Abkhazia, which the Russian president submitted to the State Duma for ratification on Monday.
The presence of the Russian joint military base in Abkhazia is stipulated in an intergovernmental agreement, and it is the main factor of stability in the region, the Abkhazian foreign minister said. “It is no coincidence that the Russian president submitted the document to the State Duma on August 8 – the day when the third anniversary since the tragic events in South Ossetia is being observed,”the Abkhazian foreign minister told Itar-Tass.
The document, signed in Moscow on February 17, 2010, regulates problems of jurisdiction in respect to the Russian military base on the territory of Abkhazia, establishes the order of the deployment of military formations of the military base so as to operate jointly with the armed forces of Abkhazia for defense of sovereignty and security of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Abkhazia, stipulates the order and use of military facilities of the military base or any other real estate, determines the status of the personnel of the military base and their families and civilian personnel and regulates other problems pertaining to the activities of the military base.
“It was Russia and its Armed Forces that saved the people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia during the Georgian aggression in 2008,” Gvindzhia stressed.
The 7th Russian military base is stationed in the town of Gudauta. The Russian servicemen have all the necessary equipment; they maintain good relations with the local population, and their contacts with the Abkhazian servicemen are exercised on a scheduled basis and in a working regime, said Chief of the Russian military base headquarters Colonel Vsevolod Gryaznov.
The Kremlin press service said on Monday that President Dmitry Medvedev submitted an agreement on a joint military base on the territory of South Ossetia and an agreement on Russia’s joint military base on the territory of Abkhazia to the State Duma for ratification.