The Draft Agreement on Raising the Level of South Ossetia’s Integration with Russia is Being Discussed
Recently South Ossetian media published a draft agreement between South Ossetia and the Russian Federation on alliance and integration. As in the case of the Abkhazian document, in this one as well certain points were found according to which this draft agreement in not in the line with the interests of South Ossetia. However, despite the Abkhazian case, here those, who complain, demand a higher level of integration.
The draft document was provided by the Russian side and includes the position of South Ossetia as well. It is expected that it will still be discussed by a joint commission.
The draft agreement composed of more than two dozen of articles, presupposes deepening the cooperation between Russia and South Ossetia, especially in the fields of security and economy. According to the draft, the sides should implement a common and security policy and form a single defense and security space. The functions of South Ossetia’s security and defense, including the border protection, shall be carried out by Russia. The armed forces and the national security agencies of South Ossetia will be included in the Russian armed forces and special services.
An attack on any of the parties will be considered an attack on the other side, but in such case the use of the armed forces in the territory of South Ossetia should be agreed with the president of the unrecognized country.
The draft agreement also provides facilitation of movement of people and goods, elimination of the borders between two countries and inclusion of the South Ossetia’s customs bodies into the Russian one.
Russia in its turn should facilitate the process of getting Russian citizenship for South Ossetians without renouncing their citizenship. Russia should also promote to the gradual increase of the salaries of state and self-governing bodies’ employees, as well as bringing the pensions equal to those of North Caucasian district.
The draft resolution is now in the phase of discussion, but before being sighed on February 10, 2015 significant changes in the content seem to be unlikely.