Interview of Acting Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia Iraklii Tuzhba to the «Republic of Abkhazia» newspaper

In response to the interview with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, in which issues of restoring Georgia's territorial integrity are discussed, we would like to emphasize that the statements of the Georgian leadership demonstrate the unwillingness to move away from old approaches that have long ceased to correspond to the current realities.

Against the backdrop of recent statements by Georgian politicians about their readiness for constructive dialogue with the Republic of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, including the statement by the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party Bidzina Ivanishvili, who stated that "Georgia will have to apologize to the Ossetian side for 2008 and punish the former ruling party", the Republic of Abkhazia expected the rise of pragmatic interaction based on the recognition of the realities that have developed in Transcaucasia.

Media reported restrictions on crossing the Abkhazian-Russian state border by citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia who also hold Russian citizenship. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports that consultations are underway with relevant Russian agencies. At the moment, there are no changes in the regime for crossing the Abkhazian-Russian state border.

Periodically there is information about performances in Europe by Georgian creative groups that position themselves as allegedly "Abkhazian" ones, in the names of which the Republic of Abkhazia, the town of Sukhum, are mentioned. These include the so-called "State Academic Song and Dance Ensemble of Georgia "Aphkhazeti", the "Shavnabada" choir, the "Drama Theater of the town of Sokhumi" ("Sokhumi Drama Theater") and others.

Due to the cancellation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation of the recommendation to refrain from traveling to the Republic of Abkhazia because of the political crisis that arose in the Republic on November 15, 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs states the following.

We have drawn attention to the statement of the press secretary of the European External Action Service, which states that: "The European Union supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia recognized by international law. With regard to the so-called presidential elections that took place in the occupied Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia on 15 February 2025, we recall that the European Union does not recognize the constitutional and legal framework in which they were held. The EU will continue to pursue a policy of non-recognition and engagement."

Interview of S. Shamba, the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia to the federal Russian online news publication News.ru

We have drawn attention to the publication on the website of the Into the Open Music Festival "Rituals" (Berlin) of information about the so-called "State Drama Theater of Sukhumi" and its performance within the framework of the festival.

In connection with the statement made by Oleg Bartsits, the candidate for President of the Republic of Abkhazia in an interview with Inal Khashig, the editor of the newspaper "Chegemskaya Pravda" that Igor Akhba, the former Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Abkhazia to the Russian Federation "... no longer works at the Embassy...", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia informs that Igor Muratovich Akhba currently holds the position of Counselor of the Embassy of the Republic of Abkhazia in the Russian Federation.