The administration of South Ossetian President Anatoly Bibilov said that preparations for the referendum on joining Russia will be completed in May-June. It has not yet been announced when the referendum will take place.
“It will take about two months to prepare,” Yury Vazagov, head of the management’s information and analytics department, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
According to him, signatures must be collected in order to regulate the testamentary process, and then the draft decree must be submitted to the Supreme Court for consideration. After these procedures are completed, an information campaign can be started.
“Perhaps certain dates are tentatively named, May-June. I think that maybe the preparations will be completed under these conditions,” said Vazagov.
“I have never been to Georgia”
As President Bibilov said in an interview with TASS, the issue of holding a referendum with Russian President Vladimir Putin has not yet been discussed. “To say that I spoke directly to Vladimir Vladimirovich [Путиным]- of course not, ”said the politician.
He added that consultations are taking place at “different levels”. “There is no longer any need to specify names or positions,” said the leader of the republic.
Bibilov stressed that Tskhinvali “sees the reaction” of the Russian Federation and is confident that Moscow shares the same position – the referendum will first of all solve a divided people’s problem and ensure the long-term security of South Ossetia.
According to the politician, the republic “never been part of Georgia.” “So, mentally, let’s put it like this. Even if you look, there is North Ossetia and the South. If you search for it, South Ossetia is north of Georgia and North Ossetia is south of Russia. Even on the basis of this, we perfectly understand that, purely geographically, South Ossetia is not part of Georgia, but the south of Ossetia and a smaller part of Ossetia, ”said the author.
He also noted that in the 1930s “all intellectuals wanted to return to the RSFSR” and even a student movement arose in the 1950s advocating a return to the Republic of the Russian Union.
Bibilov is convinced that the people of South Ossetia must be “suicidal” in order to return to Georgia. “Whatever they promise, whatever the development of tourism, whatever they offer, it is impossible. “We are ready to live as neighbors, but not because we are not ready to live there, we do not want that,” he said.
one more try
South Ossetia declared its independence in May 1992. At the same time, the first referendum was held: 99.89% of residents voted to join Russia. Moscow recognized the sovereignty of South Ossetia and Abkhazia after the armed conflict with Georgia in August 2008. Tbilisi still refuses to recognize the independence of its former autonomy.
In 2017 (shortly before the presidential elections), South Ossetia has already announced plans to hold a new referendum on joining the Russian Federation, but the vote was postponed.
On March 30, Bibilov announced that the republic would again launch such a plebiscite. “Do you support the unification of the Republic of South Ossetia and Russia?” will have to answer the question. According to the president, the republic hopes to unite with North Ossetia if it joins the Russian Federation.
Presidential elections will be held in South Ossetia on April 10. The President is elected for a five-year term.