Voice of America
14 May 2022, 17:06 GMT+10
TBILISI, GEORGIA - The leader of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia announced Friday that a referendum on joining Russia would be held in July.
Russia has exercised effective control over the region since fighting a brief war with Georgia in 2008. Russia and a handful of other countries recognize South Ossetia as an independent state, but most of the world still considers it to be part of Georgia.
"We did it!" South Ossetian leader Anatoly Bibilov wrote on Telegram Friday, announcing that he had signed a decree setting the referendum for July 17.
"In legalese, we fulfilled yet another important legal requirement," he said. "And in normal language, we took a life-changing step -- we are going home, we are going to Russia."
About a month into Russia's war with Ukraine, Bibilov said South Ossetia would take the legal steps necessary to join Russia.
The referendum roughly follows the pattern of Crimea. After Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, a referendum was held on joining Russia and 97% were said to have voted in favor. The referendum was held while Crimea was under the control of Russian troops and the result was not recognized by most countries. Russia then annexed Crimea.
Get a daily dose of Irish Sun news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Irish Sun.
More InformationWASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. State Department has announced the launch of a new program to capture and analyze evidence of ...
JAKARTA, Indonesia: A new poll released this week indicated that Indonesian President Joko Widodo's approval rating has hit a six-year ...
EAST JAVA, Indonesia: A tourist bus crashed into a billboard on a highway on Indonesia's main island of Java this ...
BELGRADE, Serbia: Belgrade was paralyzed this week by a series of bomb threats, including against schools, bridges, restaurants and a ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: In a tweet this week, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos criticized President Joe Biden for the second time in ...
TEHRAN, Iran: According to social media posts, protests that began last week across Iran over a reduction in state subsidies ...
LIMERICK, Ireland: Current and former soccer players were among ten suspects arrested this week in Limerick in connection with an ...
WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. State Department has announced the launch of a new program to capture and analyze evidence of ...
BELGRADE, Serbia: Belgrade was paralyzed this week by a series of bomb threats, including against schools, bridges, restaurants and a ...
MADRID, Spain: In a coordinated move last week, Spain and Portugal approved a temporary cap on natural gas prices.The move ...
BERLIN, Germany: Citing Interior Ministry data, Welt am Sonntag newspaper has reported that more than 700,000 people fleeing the war ...
DOLNI MORAVA, Czech Republic: The world's longest pedestrian suspension bridge has opened at a mountain resort in the Czech Republic. ...