Federation Council postpones recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia

The Federation Council (Supreme Chamber of Russian Parliament) has postponed consideration of recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, claimed by these republics in their appeals to Russian leadership.

Neither the plenary session on April 25, nor the sitting of the Interim Commission in charge of analyzing the situation in Northern Caucasus have the point in their agendas. This was confirmed today by Alexander Torshin, Council's Vice-Speaker and chairman of the Commission.

"So far, we decided to go on with analysis and study into the issue," Mr Torshin explains. The RIA "Novosti" reports that, according to his story, the Federation Council wants to take into account, among other things, the results of the debate on Abkhazia's recognition at the UN Security Council.

According to Vadim Gustov, head of the CIS Committee of the same Chamber, the issue of recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states "is not a topic for campaigning, instead, a systemic work with these non-recognized entities is necessary." Russia's recognition of them "would cause a number of complications in political and economic issues, including those at the international level." It would be, as Mr Gustov adds, "an effective, not an efficient, decision."