Georgian political analysts treat Syrian-South-Ossetian diplomatic relations as forced ones

The Syria's establishment of diplomatic relations with South Ossetia was caused by Syrian authorities' dependence on Russia and testifies to the insincerity of the proposal put forward by the Russian party for rapprochement with Georgia, believe the analysts interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot".

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 29, Syria and South Ossetia declared the mutual recognition; and on July 22, their foreign ministers signed an agreement on establishing diplomatic relations.

The recognition of independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Syria was caused by the fact that its leadership is completely dependent on Russia, said Giya Nodiya, Professor of Political Sciences at the Ilya University. "In relations with Georgia, the Russia's stumbling block is that its main principle is the recognition of independence of these countries," Professor has added, suggesting that in the near future Syria will establish diplomatic relations with Abkhazia as well.

The Syrian authorities, completely dependent on the Kremlin, could establish diplomatic relations with South Ossetia, because they had no "other way out," said Mamuka Zhgenti, an activist of the non-governmental organization (NGO) "Georgian Institute of European Values".

He expressed doubts about the sincerity of Russia's proposals to restore diplomatic relations with Georgia. "Russia has no intent to have any good-neighbourly relations – it has its own declared policy, evidencing that it does not want full-fledged friendly relations with its neighbours, including Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova. Russia's goal is to be an empire and mistress of all its neighbours," Mr Zhgenti told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on July 31, 2018 at 11:26 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.