MOSCOW. April 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Abkhazia will build a full-fledged border with Georgia, Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh said at a press conference at the Interfax main office on Friday.
"We are planning to build a normal border with Georgia to get rid of smuggling, terrorist attacks, and everything we have been plagued with in the past 15-17 years," he said.
This construction will begin in the near future, and Abkhazia will guard this border together with Russia, he said.
"In line with our treaty and our request, I think all this is realistic and will be soon reflected in documents to be signed at the top level," he said.
Abkhazia is currently reinforcing its borders, Bagapsh said.
"We are sick and tired of doing this. As soon as rallies, revolutions, and riots begin in Georgia, we begin reinforcing our border, but any state would do so," he said.
"We aren't going to sit around twiddling our thumbs and wait until the same thing that happened last August happens tomorrow. You don't have to be a great strategist to understand a simple thing: when the atmosphere in such a country as Georgia gets explosive, for instance, when rallies flare up, this needs to be canalized. There are two targets for this - Abkhazia and South Ossetia," he said.
Talking about possible Russian-Abkhaz military exercises, Bagapsh said, "I think these exercises will be conducted jointly with the Abkhaz armed forces, because we - I mean our armed forces and our border guards - are guarding the frontline at the border with Georgia. This will continue until the border is fully equipped."