Abkhazia Today
The Abkhaz conflict has not been resolved; a ceasefire agreement was signed on 15 May 1994 and a United Nations peacekeeping force (UNOMIG) was given the task of monitoring the agreement. A separate force from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) was assigned to a peacekeeping mission.
Peace talks have taken place on and off over the last ten years, but have achieved little of significance. Although there have been no major outbreaks of fighting in the meantime, border clashes and armed raids by both sides continue to inflict casualties.
A new constitution was adopted, on 4 November 1994, which declared Abkhaz sovereignty. Parliamentary elections were held on 23 November 1996, but these were not recognised by the Georgian government or the international community, as the elections were held after ethnic cleansing when majority of pre-war population had fled Abkhazia. The CIS imposed economic sanctions in January 1996 and the region is formally blockaded by both Georgia and Russia.
The de facto authorities organised a referendum on 3 October 1999 which approved the current constitution though more than half of the pre-war population expelled from Abkhazia did not take part in voting.
Read more about this topic: Politics Of Abkhazia
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“You can make children believe whatever you want, and the children of today are the soldiers and mothers of tomorrow.”
—Dudley Nichols, U.S. screenwriter. Jean Renoir. Major Von Keller (Walter Slezak)