MOSCOW. May 20 (Interfax-AVN) - Abkhazia would not object if Russian military bases are returned to the region, Abkhaz Defense Minister Vyacheslav Eshba has said.
A former Russian military base in Abkhazia's Gudauta was shut down in line with an OSCE decision some time ago.
"Abkhazia would not object if bases of the Russian regular army would again be stationed in the region. This would make the population feel safer and provide new jobs, of which there is a shortage in Abkhazia. This would not be a bad thing for Georgia either," Eshba said in an interview published in the Tuesday issue of Russia'sVremya Novostei newspaper.
Sukhumi is calm about Georgia's desire to join NATO, the defense minister of the self-proclaimed republic said. "It does not irritate us. It is Georgia's right," he said.
Noting that NATO is not involved in settling the Georgian- Abkhaz conflict, Eshba noted that he is "absolutely satisfied" with "the format of the Russian peacekeeping operation." The fact that there has been no war in the region for years proves that the peacekeepers "are doing their job properly."
At the same time, Sukhumi is concerned with the presence of Georgian military units in the Kodori gorge, Eshba said. Recalling the invasion of the gorge by gangs of Chechen warlord Ruslan Gelayev two years ago, he stressed that "none of that would have happened if there had been posts of Russian peacekeepers and UN military observers."
According to Eshba, Sukhumi is following the situation in the Kodori gorge closely. "But, you know, there is such a corridor there that cannot exist without the support of high- ranking officials in the Georgian Interior Ministry. Otherwise, how would rebels travel by trucks there?" he said.