President of South Ossetia announces referendum in 2016 to join Russia

The referendum on merger of South Ossetia with Russia will be held earlier than in six months. This was reported by Leonid Tibilov, President of South Ossetia. He has emphasized that the issue was discussed at the meeting with the President of Russia.

According to Leonid Tibilov, on March 31, at the meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the issue was discussed among the other issues relating to the process of the recovery of the republic and the implementation of the paragraphs of the treaty on alliance with Russia, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

Leonid Tibilov has also emphasized that the holding of a referendum is a domestic issue which requires legal interpretation in terms of introduction of amendments to the Constitution of South Ossetia.

When speaking of the supplementary agreement on defence, provided by the alliance treaty between Russia and South Ossetia, Leonid Tibilov has also noted that the Ministry of Defence of South Ossetia will be preserved, while South Ossetian military men will be enlisted in the Russian units stationed on the territory of the republic.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.