TBILISI, FEB. 6 2017 (The Conway Bulletin) — Georgia was accused of baiting its rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia with its recently won visa-free access to the European Union.

The row is a reminder to the EU that closer ties with Georgia come with attachments to the Georgia Russia stand-off over the two Georgian breakaway states. Georgia and Russia fought a brief war over the two regions less than a decade ago which ended in Russian soldiers temporarily occupying part of Georgia and the Kremlin recognising both South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent.

In a speech shortly after the Euro- pean Parliament voted to approve 90-day visa-free access to Georgia and Ukraine to the 26-nation Schengen Area, Georgian PM Giorgi Kvirikashvili said that people living in the breakaway regions could also enjoy the easier access to the EU if they reapplied for a Georgian passport.

“We are happy that our Abkhazian and Ossetian citizens will join us in enjoying every benefit offered by close relations with Europe,” he said. The rebel regions were not amused and said Mr Kvirikashvili was trying to leverage political capital out of the European Parliament vote by trying to persuade people living in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to move back to Georgia. Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian president from 2004 until 2013, deployed similar sweetener tactics, by building public swimming pools next to South Ossetia and holding rock concerts within earshot of Tskhinvali, its capital.

The authorities in Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast, released a statement.

“It is obvious that after a complete failure of the idea of the so-called neutral passports, the Georgian government decided to use another type of bait in the form of visa liberalization for citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia. It is clear that the Georgian government’s attempt will fail,” it said.

ENDS