Consulate of Czech Republic in Moscow rejects Abkhazians of students' visas

Seven students of the Abkhaz State University who planned to go for training to the Czech Republic were denied visas at the consulate of this country in Moscow on the grounds that their passports had been issued by the Russia's Embassy in Abkhazia.

The young people have collected all the documents, paid the airfare and the hotel, but the Consular Section of the Czech Embassy in Moscow refused even to accept their documents. A consulate official said that Abkhazia is not recognized by the Czech Republic as an independent country.

"By preventing educational projects, the Czech Republic, as a member of the EU, puts itself into an awkward position," says the January 16 statement of the Association of Mass Media Workers of Abkhazia, under the auspices of which the educational projects aimed at improving the professional level of Abkhaz journalists are implemented.

The Association has expressed its confidence that "the people living in the Czech Republic do not share the discriminatory approach of their government to citizens of Russia and Abkhazia," and urged the leadership of the Czech Republic, "not to look like the countries, declaring human rights and freedoms and violating them."