Precedent: after Kosovo, tiny Pacific Island Nauru also recognizes Abkhazia
The tiny Pacific island of Nauru recognized the independence of Abkhazia from Georgia on Tuesday, a year after recognizing Kosovo's secession from Serbia.
(KosovoCompromise Staff) Tuesday, December 15, 2009
It has become the first country in the world to recognize both unilateral secessions.
The island of 14,000 people joined Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela in recognizing Abkhazia, following a five-day war last year between Russia and Georgia over breakaway South Ossetia.
"We have established relations with the world's biggest nation (Russia), and now with the smallest," Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said.
Asked if Nauru had been paid to recognize Abkhazia, Shamba replied: "You don't establish diplomatic relations like that ... although of course the entire international practice is sheer bargaining to a certain extent."
Shamba said Abkhazia was lobbying Latin American countries and the Middle East, but the process was "hampered by mighty forces," such as the United States and the EU - which on the other hand masterminded Kosovo's unilateral secession from Serbia.
Russia's RIA Novosti quoted Nauru Foreign Minister Kieren Keke as saying: "I hope that other countries will follow our example and also recognize the independence of Abkhazia."
