TSKHINVALI. Nov 13 (Interfax-AVN) - Eduard Kokoity, winner of Sunday's presidential elections in South Ossetia, has described independence and integration with Russia as his priority.
"Integration with Russia is a priority of South Ossetian policy," he told a Monday press conference.
South Ossetia will seek the recognition of its independence in compliance with international legal norms, he said.
"There is still a long road to the recognition of our independence. However, the referendum is a weighty argument in favor of the recognition of South Ossetia," he said.
"I congratulate my people on the astonishing success of the referendum. The independence referendum was more important for us than the presidential elections," he said.
The South Ossetian administration will fight for independence using civilized methods, Kokoity said. "It is my main task to implement the will expressed at the referendum. I am honored to serve such people," he said.
Kokoity urged the Georgian administration to abandon "its ostrich-like policy and to listen to the opinion of the Ossetian people."
The Georgian authorities must be forced to start peaceful negotiations, he added.
"We will never have peace in the Caucasus without Western condemnation of Georgia's nationalist ideology," he said.
There is a preliminary agreement to implement Russia's national projects on South Ossetian territory, Kokoity said. As for Georgian villages temporarily outside Tskhinvali's control, their ethnic Georgian residents "are an inseparable part of South Ossetia," he said.
"The overwhelming majority of these people voted or wished to vote at the South Ossetian independence referendum, but Georgian secret services did their best to impede them," he said. "Average citizens, peasants who live in the Georgian villages, appeared to be wiser than the Georgian administration," he said.