ARTICLE: Tales from the Black Sea

Georgia, Abkhazia and Russia
Tales from the Black Sea
Jul 3rd 2008 SUKHUMI AND TBILISI
From The Economist print edition

The Abkhaz and the Georgians have reason to resent each other—but both need to rebuild trust if they are to have a prosperous future

AT MIDDAY Ochamchira, in Abkhazia, is almost empty. A derelict cement tower and rusty fairground wheel are the backdrop to an empty stretch of Black Sea coast that was once the Soviet riviera. The ageing owner of a bar is reading a book of Soviet recipes, but his only customer is a woman who downs her vinegary red wine and leaves. “This time 15 years ago people were queuing outside,” he says. Then there were 25,000 residents; today 3,000 are left.
The ethnic conflict between Georgia and its breakaway enclave, Abkhazia, was one of many detonated by the collapse of the Soviet Union. Recently, this patch of land, in law part of Georgia but in effect controlled by Russia, has become a new frontier between Russia and the West. Two months ago Georgia and Russia came close to war. Russia accused Georgia of preparing a strike on Abkhazia, mobilised paratroopers and artillery to join its “peacekeepers”, and shot down a Georgian drone. Hotheads in Tbilisi and Moscow said that war was all but inevitable.

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