23:31, 29 December 2004

Bagapsh wants integration with Russia, equality with Georgia

Sergey Bagapsh, the candidate for the post of Abkhazian president, and Raul Khadzhimba, the candidate for the post of vice president, met with Abkhazian intellectuals at the Abaza cultural center on December 28, reported the Caucasian Knot correspondent.

Asked about Abkhazia's future, Sergey Bagapsh said that the Abkhazian people had already chosen the way of independence and were not going to turn off it. Mr Bagapsh emphasized that Abkhazia was for the integration with the Russian Federation. "We can't develop the country's economy without solid investment, and so serious changes in the legislation lie ahead of us," the presidential candidate said. Speaking about the relations with Georgia, he expressed an opinion that it should be a question of relations "between two states equal in rights".

The free press in Abkhazia is only just arising, according to Mr Bagapsh, and "no one is allowed to kill it".

Author: Anzhela Kuchuberiya, CK correspondent