Last week, news came that Syria had officially recognized Abkhazia and South-Ossetia as independent countries – a move that has been denounced by a wide array of countries from the western hemisphere.
This brings back a day last September when I was traveling to the occupation line separating Georgia from its former autonomous region Samachablo – now mostly known as South Ossetia or Tskhinvali Region – with members of a group called „Power is in Unity“.
It is where I met Mikhael, David, Alexandra, Lasha and others of the movement. They told me about their cause, that they would be going to the occupation line every day to monitor military movements on the other side, to show presence – and to raise awareness for the situation. Their goal is to reach a point where there’s room for top-level political talks which should ultimately be leading to the unification of Samachablo with Georgia.
The day ended with them demonstrating their conviction that Georgia should be even more integrated into western alliances – and with soft spoken Giorgi quietly sitting down, holding his smart phone to his ear listening to a Georgian song while his gaze reached out to the land that once was home to many of them.
