UPDATE - Assad regime to recognize Abkhazia, South Ossetia

UPDATES WITH GEORGIA AND EU REACTIONS

By Adham Kako

ANKARA (AA) - The Assad regime in Syria will recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s unilateral independence from Georgia, Syria’s official SANA news agency reported on Tuesday.

The regime will establish diplomatic ties at the embassy level, the reports added.

Following the decision, Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the government started the necessary process to cut diplomatic ties with Syria.

It also said the Syrian regime violated its international legal obligation on the territorial integrity of a sovereign state.

The EU’s diplomatic service, European External Action Service (EEAS), also issued a written statement saying: “The decision violates international law and the principle of territorial integrity.”

It also voiced “full support” for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia, self-declared independent states, are disputed areas between Russia and Georgia.

Moscow recognized the independence of the Georgian breakaway regions after a six-day war with Georgia in 2008.

The only UN member states to recognize the breakaway regions are Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nauru.

*Davit Kachkachishvili from Tbilisi and Yusuf Hatip from Brussels contributed to this report