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Abkhazia

Russia recognised Abkhazia and another breakaway region, South Ossetia, as independent states in 2008 after Russian troops repelled a Georgian attempt to retake South Ossetia in a five-day war that ended on August 12, 2008. Under Soviet rule, Abkhazia had special status as an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) within the Georgian SSR. As the Soviet Union disintegrated, Abkhaz nationalism grew, with ethnic Abkhaz fearing a loss of autonomy if they became a part of an independent Georgia.

In February 1992, the provisional Georgian Military Council reinstated Georgia�s 1921 Constitution, interpreted by the Abkhaz as an abolition of their autonomous status. In July 1992, Abkhazia effectively declared independence from Georgia. This was recognised by no other country. In August 1992, Georgia dispatched troops to Abkhazia and retook control of the region. This provoked a separatist movement, with links to Chechen and Russian militias, to fight Georgian �occupation�. By the end of 1992, rebels held most of Abkhazia except the capital Sukhumi. A brief truce failed to hold and rebel forces retook Sukhumi in September 1993. Most ethnic Georgians fled.

The Moscow Agreement of 1994 brought a formal end to the fighting and the establishment of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), responsible for monitoring and verifying the observance of successive ceasefires. Sporadic acts of violence took place between 1994-2008. The worst flare up of fighting prior to 2008 occurred in May 1998 when around 100 people were killed in Gali, a predominantly ethnic Georgian region in southern Abkhazia. In August 2008, the Russians and Abkhaz took the opportunity to expel Georgians from the Kodori Gorge in the north eastern part of Abkhazia, and consolidate their hold through a big injection of forces.

Since the August 2008 war, Russia has sought to develop its economic and military links with the de facto Abkhazian authorities. In the absence of international monitors (UNOMIG�s presence ended in June 2009 after Russia vetoed its extension in the Security Council) the de facto authorities have agreed to the development of existing Russian military infrastructure and bases within Abkhazia, and the deployment of Russian security personnel along the �border�. Russian oil company Rosneft has signed a deal to explore for oil and gas off the Abkhaz coast. Direct Russian budgetary support will account for more than half of the Abkhaz budget in 2010. Abkhazia is also expected to play an important role in Russia�s staging of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, just up the coast from the border and Abkhazia has been promised contracts and jobs working on Olympic projects as part of recent economic deals.

Although Abkhazia is de facto independent it remains de jure part of Georgia. Only Russia and three other countries recognise the �independence� of Abkhazia. The vast majority of the international community continues to support Georgia�s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Abkhazia has a �multi-party presidential system�. The �president� is head of state and head of government. �The People�s Assembly� has 35 members, elected for a five year term in single seat constituencies. In December 2009, Abkhazia held its fourth �Presidential� election since the post of President of the Republic of Abkhazia was created in 1994. The election was won by incumbent �president� Sergei Bagapsh in the first round with 61% of the votes, thus gaining a second term in office.

In January 2010, the Georgian government unveiled a State Strategy on the Occupied Territories, intended to encourage economic cooperation, freedom of movement, the restoration of transport links and re-establishment of humanitarian links.

The de facto authorities in Abkhazia continue to restrict the rights, primarily of ethnic Georgians, to vote, participate in the political process, and exercise basic rights such as property ownership, business registration, and travel. Ethnic Georgians also have suffered harassment by Abkhaz and Russian forces, forced conscription in the Abkhaz "army," a lack of funding for basic infrastructure maintenance, and limitations on Georgian-language instruction in the Gali district schools.

Abhazia�s parliament appointed speaker Valery Bganba as acting president of the republic and voted to hold early presidential elections on 24 August 2014, according to the results of a special session on 31 May 2014. 24 of the 25 MPs present at the session voted in favor of early elections - one abstained. In turn, President Aleksandr Ankvab said he disagrees with the regulation, the vote of non-confidence and the MP�s proposal for his resignation. On May 29, the Abkhazian parliament expressed lack of confidence in Prime Minister Leonid Lakerbaya and urged Ankvab to resign voluntarily as head of the republic. Earlier in the week, the Abkhaz opposition, dissatisfied with the president�s internal policies, seized government buildings and created the Interim National Council.

Speaker of the Abkhazian parliament Valery Bganba, who was appointed interim president by the parliament, took over as Abkhazia's acting President after Alexander Ankvab announced his resignation. Ankvab announced that he decided to step down to preserve stability in Abkhazia. Alexander Ankvab, who tendered his resignation as Abkhazia's president on 31 May 2014, called on the nation "to show restraint, not yield to provocation and to refrain from any rallies". Ankvab said that the latest steps taken by the country's parliament "run counter to the constitution and laws of Abkhazia." In such conditions, according to Ankvab, the only politically acceptable, although illegitimate decision is to announce the date of early presidential election.

Abkhazia held a snap presidential election 25 August 2014. Four candidates were seeking to replace Aleksandr Ankvab, Abkhazia's de-facto president, who was forced to resign following days of political upheaval. The front-runner in the polls was Raul Khadzhimba, who had stood unsuccessfully for president three times since 2004. All the candidates spoke in favor of a close partnership with Russia. Raul Khajimba / Khadzhimba, a former career KGB officer, won with 50.57% of the vote.

Tens of thousands of Georgians marched through Tbilisi November 15, 2014 against what they said was the government's passive reaction to a planned military alliance between Russia and the breakaway Abkhazia republic. The protesters said the agreement, which has yet to be finalized, is a step toward Russian annexation of Abkhazia. They demanded the Georgian government take stronger steps to oppose the measure that would create a joint Russian-Abkhazian military force.

The pro-Ankvab political forces now in opposition, in the first instance the Amtsakhara (Keep the Home Fires Burning) union of veterans of the 1992-93 war that culminated in Abkhazia's de facto independence from Georgia and the broader Bloc of Opposition Forces of which Amtsakhara is a member, repeatedly criticized Khajimba's failure to deliver on his campaign promises to form a coalition government, embark on dialogue with other political forces, launch sweeping systemic reform, and kick-start the stagnating economy.

Hopes for an end to the protracted standoff between pro-government and opposition forces in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia proved premature. The 10 July 2016 referendum in which voters were called upon to approve or reject the holding of an early election for the post of de facto president was declared invalid just hours after polling stations closed. According to the Central Election Commission (TsIK), just 1.23 percent of the region's 132,885 registered voters cast ballots. The minimum required turnout for the vote to be valid was 50 percent.

On 26 March 2022, residents of Abkhazia voted in runoffs in 17 of 35 seats, another 17 having been won outright in the first round on 12 March. Votes will be held again in two seats: in Gudauta, where turnout was below the threshold during the first round, and in the Sukhumi (Sukhum) constituency 8, where candidates Naur Narmania and Leon Gubaz both won 989 votes in the second round. Of the 33 MPs elected, at least 25 are supporters of Aslan Bzhania, giving the president unprecedented support in the legislature.

Only two MPs from opposition parties won seats, Kan Kvarchia and Eric Rshtuni, though several MPs elected as independents are also supporters of the opposition. A total of 123 candidates had competed for seats in the 35-member parliament. Announcing the preliminary results of the second round on Sunday, the local Central Election Commission (CEC) reported that almost 37,000 out of around 68,000 eligible voters in the constituencies up for grabs took part in the elections, a turnout of 55%.

The Georgian Government, which claims sovereignty over Abkhazia, rejected the vote as illegitimate, as did several other countries including the United States. Elections in Abkhazia are considered illegitimate by Tbilisi, as well as the most of international community except Russia and the several states that recognize the independence of the occupied region.

Russia is planning to build a naval base on the Black Sea coast of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia, the leader of the region was quoted on 05 October 2023 as saying by the Izvestiya newspaper, a day after meeting President Vladimir Putin. Aslan Bzhania, the self-styled president of the Russian-backed breakaway region, said an agreement had been signed for a permanent naval base in the Ochamchira region. "We have signed an agreement, and in the near future there will be a permanent base of the Russian Navy in the Ochamchira district," Bzhania told Izvestiya. "This is all aimed at increasing the level of defence capability of both Russia and Abkhazia, and this kind of interaction will continue," he said. "There are also things I can't talk about."