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Subscribe to RSSA pro-Russian former KGB officer has won the presidency in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia and suggested he would push for the tiny territory to join Russia.
A mountainous region of about 30,000 people, South Ossetia has been at the heart of Georgia's bitter relations with Russia since breaking from Georgian control in a war in the 1990s.
Moscow recognized it as an independent nation after a brief war with Georgia in 2008. Internationally it is only recognized by Venezuela, Nicaragua and the Pacific nation of Nauru.
The victory of a Kremlin-backed candidate is certain to bolster Moscow's influence in the region as it seeks to complicate aspirations by U.S.-backed Georgia to join NATO.
However, some observers on both sides say events could drag the two countries into another war.
According to results released on Monday, Leonid Tibilov won more than 54 percent of the vote in Sunday's presidential runoff against regional human rights ombudsman David Sanakoyev.
Georgia's government dismissed the election as illegitimate, the BBC reported, calling South Ossetia "occupied" territory and saying it would urge the international community to join its criticism.
"Our position will be tough as ever and Tbilisi will address the international community for reaction," Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said.
Russia has a military base in South Ossetia and has spent about $1 billion supporting the impoverished region since the 2008 conflict.
"We will develop the relationship with Russia in all areas. We are aiming to make an old dream about the reunification of South and North Ossetia a reality," Tibilov, 60, told reporters on Sunday in the region's capital, Tskhinvali.
North Ossetia is part of Russia and Tibilov's call implies a de facto unification of the region with Russia.
Archive: Russia ‘not afraid’ of a new Cold War (2008)
Analysts however say Moscow is unlikely to push for unification soon in order to avoid antagonising Western powers, which reject South Ossetia's independence claim and would be deeply alarmed by a Russia's physical expansion.
Russia state news agency RIA Novosti said the turnoutin the small Caucasus republic of 72,000 stood at 63 percent two hours before the vote’s end, far above the minimum threshold of 30 percent, the local CEC said.
Kremlin-funded television channel RT quotedGeorgi Gugava, political secretary of Georgia’s opposition Labor Party, as saving Georgia’s president Mikhail Saakashvili is getting ready for a war with Russia.
“The gang that is holding power is ready to continue the [August] 2008 provocation, as a result of which we lost territories and hundreds of people were killed,” it quotes Gugava as saying. “Saakashvili is [planning] a provocation” in order to “involve the Russian Army” in a conflict.
Russia recently described a joint military exercise between U.S. Marines and Georgian soldiers as “provocation”, according to Tbilisi English-language news site, Georgia Times.
It said the exercises were aimed at building military relations between the U.S. and the Georgians, who are training to serve in Afghanistan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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Surely it does not surprise anyone that Putin wants to restore Russia to it's previous glory - when it was known as USSR. That he would arrange for his cronies to be 'elected' in locations where he can 'reclaim' should be expected. And for the pro-unification opposition in Georgia to condemn the government for wanting to remain independent is just sad. It is rather obvious who is funding this opposition.
I have to agree with you .
Putin and his good old boys are looking to put the U.S.S.R. and as many satellite countries back together again . This has a feel to it. Like they want to put up the Iron Curtain once again.
interested observer Russia's previous glory was known as the Russian Empire.
But is it being "monitored" MSNBC??
The best way to avoid the courts -that would strike down a sanitized and dignified version of this shameful craft along criminal justice lines- is to have the most brutal consequence dependent activity known to man and after most of the world gets de-triggered start the most pointless and risk intensive slaughter ever seen to justify the effort hear at home...
... the larger this concealed war effort gets to avoid the courts -making it less likely to get struck down as Unconstitutional along this shameful craft of doing the unthinkable to get around much lower protections that would stick-would just serve as more proof of how shameful, reckless, and incompetent master pervert this master pervert was if the shrinking chance materializes
A larger chunk of the democracy gets taken out ensuring a smaller and smaller level of certainty along our plains of negative reality and no reality actually creating the most sickening bull whip ever seen by almost any President...
...the first thing he needs to do is compromise his profiteering trash and align their credibility with the continued destruction of innocent people in homeless shelters, institutions, prisons, hiding or unknowingly suffering through them
and using their complete loss of human rights and dignity, create as dense of an alternate reality as possible to serve as cover for their lack of courage and talent allowing acts of war concealing brutal criminal activity through as many people as necessary to become a way of life until that breaks into a lower quality of life for everyone one the surface...
It's amazing how easy it is to do the unthinkable in this nation-when no one ever had to fight for their most basic rights in their life time- and capture entire components of society where the obscene becomes an acceptable way of life..
All those sleepless nights Mr. President keeping your fingers crossed that all the reports would come back as no resistance...
...where the farther out in fantasy land your FBI pretext was the larger of an environment you could secure with no cause from the bottom and DOD from the top...
...where the same military grade satellite used to smoother innocent citizens -by capturing and dropping the human rights of the people in front of the statements they were baked from the inside out to make- would create the cause to start capturing entire segments of society for simply hearing the screams you were directly ordering...
...all to dismiss a war crime on the rock solid captured surface by making it as large as possible and carrying it through to complete personal destruction of your targets...
...where the larger these untested and criminal environments became-by forcing people to demonstrate their innocence to make them a potential threat for life to absorb the primary slaughter of innocent people you classified as enemies without a trial-the less likely they would ever get tested...
...where the farther out your fantasy level pretext was the farther your DOD intent could rotate around these environments putting the biggest cowards into a position that would compromise entire systems as the best way to secure all information and create enough consequence to keep the effort moving past any court that would strike down far less intrusive and repulsive methods...
...basically a society with major components aligned with a more and more brutal destruction of innocent citizens with lessor and lessor justification (if covert acts of war, concealing what would be criminal activity without that classification, were ever legal, a rather profound question I never heard debated-wideled down so low that this war criminal had to start re-triggering and compacting the world by legitimizing the most shameful activity known to man where leaving innocent US citizens in the most sickening artificial states became the best way to ensure these cowards best interests...
...truly one shameful democracy...
Are concealed acts of war-if the government can create enough consequence that they can maintain it is in the best interest of the nation-ever legal against their citizens...no matter how elaborate they get..
Let's start there...
Oh, oh, no lawful proof at the rock hard captured surface level such a policy even exists and that's why it had to become so big and compact...
Still, lets start there before we tackle our lack of economic progress..
Hey Barack you need to quickly hold a speech about how you'll work with this new President after the election. In the meantime just pretend you care. Oh i forgot you already promised Russia that- carry on you bum