EU must recognise Abkhaz independence: separatists
(SUKHUMI) - The European Union must recognise Abkhazia for peace talks in Geneva to go ahead, the separatist province's de facto foreign minister told an EU envoy here Monday.
"The only thing we want from the EU is a recognition of the reality that Abkhazia is now an independent state," Sergei Shamba said at a meeting with Pierre Morel in the Abkhaz capital Sukhumi, Interfax news agency reported.
Abkhaz leader Sergei Bagapsh said Abkhaz officials would not attend the peace talks on November 18 if Abkhazia, which was recognised by Russia in the wake of a conflict with Georgia in August, was treated as a part of Georgia.
"If someone thinks of presenting Abkhazia as a region of Georgia then it will not happen," Bagapsh said at a separate meeting with Morel in Sukhumi.
Peace talks in Geneva on October 15 fell apart because of disagreements over the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, another rebel province of Georgia.
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