Georgia: Frozen conflicts, frozen happiness · Global Voices
Onnik Krikorian

This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.
With a little over a week to go before the second anniversary of the short war fought between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway territory of South Ossetia, Evolutsia turns its attention to another one of the country's two frozen conflicts, Abkhazia. With both recognized as independent by Russia since the 2008 war, the blog comments on recent reports of renewed inter-ethnic violence while also adding that Russia's increasing influence in the otherwise unrecognized republic is not as well received as many might have thought.
While most Abkhazians, and certainly those in the political class, understand that Russia’s assistance was and remains crucial to their separation from Georgia, there is also a growing feeling that their arrangement with the Kremlin may have a Faustian feel to it.
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[…] with Russians in control of their budget, their borders, and primary transportation links, there is sure to be a substantial well of resentment among average Abkhazians about the veracity of their supposed ‘independence’ and the impunity by which Russians have assumed the commanding heights in Abkhazian economic and political affairs.
Such a sense of resentment, combined with more prosaic disagreements—such as dividing money—can be a recipe for combustion. Heated attitudes and disagreements may have led to the violence, which may be headed towards something more significant unless the Abkhazian, or Russian, authorities can keep things under better control. […]
With outbreaks of violence common, especially on the contact line between Armenia and Azerbaijan as attempts to broker a lasting peace in the conflict over Nagorno Karabakh continue to falter, some analysts believe that the three regional conflicts are not entirely “frozen.”
Nevertheless, the term continues to one most used in connection with Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno Karabakh, with a tweet sent out from the account of the Georgian blog, Dream for our Brotherhood, saying this also equates to “frozen happiness.”
The blog also comments on a video report [GE/RU/EN] summing up a variety of thoughts from citizens on the two frozen conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The opinions regarding the ways of how to settle the territorial conflicts are sharply divided inside the Georgian society.
This post is part of our special coverage Caucasus Conflict Voices.