The selection of Sochi to host the 2014 Winter Olympics has strengthened hopes of international recognition for neighbouring Abkhazia as it will grant the de facto state global visibility.

Below is an article published by Regnum News Agency:

“The 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi can become a serious guarantee that Russia will in no way allow another large-scale conflict between Abkhazia and Georgia,” Abkhazian expert Inal Khashig told a REGNUM correspondent commenting on the IOC decision to make Sochi the host of the Olympics. Moreover, according to Khashig, it can become another factor for recognizing Abkhazia’s independence by Russia and the international community.

Inal Khashig did not rule out that Abkhazian transport communication can be enacted in connection with the Winter Olympics in Sochi. “The Babushara Airport in Sokhumi is the best airport in Caucasus in terms of its climate conditions and functional opportunities, and even today it can serve aircrafts of all types,” the expert believes. Actually, the Sokhumi airport was closed after the Georgian-Abkhaz war of 1992-93 because of Georgia’s protests to the ICAO.

Speaking on the economic point of view, the expert predicts strengthening of the relations between Abkhazia and Krasnodar Territory (in which Sochi is located). “The Olympics can promote reconstruction of outdated resort hotels dating back to the Soviet times,” Khashig says.

The expert though found it difficult to say how the Sochi Olympics can influence the situation in the Russian-Abkhaz border on the Psou River. In any case, Inal Khashig says that Abkhazia expects only positive changes from the Olympics 2014.