Abkhazia expects Ecuador to recognize its independence soon - Abkhaz foreign minister
December 3, 2009
Interfax
SUKHUMI - Abkhazia expects Ecuador to recognize its independence in the near future, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba told Interfax.
Abkhazia passed an official request to the Ecuadorian president soon after his return home from Moscow in early November, Shamba said.
"At our request, an Abkhaz representative in Venezuela visited Ecuador and passed an official message to that country's president, Rafael Correa, to request that Abkhazia's recognition be considered," Shamba said.
"After that, we decided to send a delegation of a higher level to that country, and Abkhaz Foreign Ministry officials led by Deputy Foreign Minister Maxim Gvindzhia are currently in Latin America," he said.
The delegation members provided the Ecuadorian president and parliament "with a number of materials on Abkhazia's history and the history of its conflict with Georgia."
"Ecuador is thoroughly studying these materials now, and we hope that it will make a statement on this issue soon," Shamba said.
Following the visit to Ecuador, the Abkhaz delegation will go to Venezuela, where they will meet with the secretary general of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas and Venezuelan Foreign Ministry officials, the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry said.
Ecuadorian President Correa said during a visit to Moscow on October 28-30 that his country would consider the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia if it received such a request.
