Dominos

From the BBC:
"Georgia Abkhazia: Leader 'flees' protesters in Sukhumi"

The president of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia is said to have fled the capital Sukhumi after opposition protesters seized his office. Alexander Ankvab reportedly retreated to his home town Gudauta, 40km (25 miles) away, when talks with the opposition broke down. Many people in the Russian-backed region are unhappy with the ailing economy and lack of reforms.  But Abkhazian nationalist feeling is also fuelling the unrest.  The protesters are led by Raul Khadzhimba, a former prime minister and vice-president of Abkhazia, who was defeated by Mr Ankvab in elections in August 2011. The Black Sea coastal region is recognised as a state only by Russia and a few other countries. It broke away from Georgia after a civil war more than 20 years ago and declared formal independence in 2008. Since then, it has relied militarily and financially on Russia. Russia is reportedly sending two senior officials, presidential aide Vladislav Surkov and deputy security council secretary Rashid Nurgaliyev, to Sukhumi in response to the crisis. Opinion among the opposition is said to be divided between those who want Abkhazia to rely less on Russia and those who instead want it to become part of Russia. Mr Ankvab accused the opposition of attempting a coup on Tuesday and said the security forces remained "loyal to the state" and were "taking measures to stabilise the situation". Raul Khadzhimba defended the protests, saying: "Over all the years of his rule the president did not allow anybody in his circle to do their work.  "He took upon himself everybody's responsibilities on their behalf, whether he should or should not have been doing this. That led to our country in fact becoming an authoritarian regime.  In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said: "The Russian side is following events closely and with concern... and considers it important that socio-political processes develop exclusively along legal lines."

 

^ I believe that what is happening in Abkhazia will also happen in the Crimea. Abkhazia and South Ossetia left Georgia and came under Russian rule. Russian says that these are "independent countries" yet the people there receive Russian pensions and Russian international passports. I don't know of any countries that give their pensions and passports to non-citizens. Now that Russia annexed the Crimea and are giving the people there Russian pensions and Russian passports (among other things) it looks like the same exact situation repeating itself. Apparently, Abkhazia and South Ossetia were promised the "world" by Russia if they left Georgia and now the people - at least in Abkhazia - continue to live in poverty. In a way I hope the people of the Crimea (at least the ones who called for Russian rule) get the same Russian treatment. Then they (the Crimeans) will learn their lesson. It took 6 years for this Abkhazian unrest to come out, but since the Crimea has no gas, water or electricity coming from the Ukraine (despite Russian promises that they will send it to them from Russia) it may come sooner rather than later. ^

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27600919