South Ossetia and Syria establish diplomatic relations

On July 22, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs (MFAs) for South Ossetia and Syria signed an agreement on the establishment of diplomatic relations. Another important outcome of the meeting was an agreement on the visit of the South-Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov to Damascus.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 29, Syria declared recognition of South Ossetia. That fact provoked criticism from the US and the European Union, and Georgia severed diplomatic relations with Syria.

The trip to Syria will be the Anatoly Bibilov's first visit to the country which recognized the independence of South Ossetia, except Russia. South Ossetia also expects to receive Bashar Assad in August: he is invited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of recognition of the republic's independence by Russia. This is reported by "Sputnik" with reference to Dina Gassieva, the press secretary of the South-Ossetian leader.

In the case of the Bashar Assad's arrival in South Ossetia, "Georgia will not be able to do anything more than it has already done by severing diplomatic relations with Syria," stated political analyst Nikolai Silaev as quoted by the "Echo of the Caucasus".

"There is the law on the occupied territories and sanctions that restrict the issuance of EU and US visas to citizens of Abkhazia and South Ossetia," Nikolai Silaev explained.