Badra Gunba officially took office as President in Abkhazia. The inauguration ceremony was attended by representatives of the legislative, executive and judicial authorities, members of the Central Election Commission, the leader of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia Alan Gagloev, the first deputy head of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergei Kirienko, deputies of the Russian State Duma, heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, ambassadors of Russia, South Ossetia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, as well as a representative of the unrecognised Transnistria.
The opening speech was delivered by the Speaker of the Parliament Lasha Ashuba. After that Badra Gunba was sworn in in Abkhazian language, putting his hand on the Constitution. The Speaker presented the new president with attributes of power – standard, seal, sabre as a symbol of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, as well as Abkhazian staff of Alabash.
After the oath of office Gunba gave a short programme speech.
Kremlin-backed Badra Gunba won the second round of the presidential election in the breakaway region of Abkhazia with nearly 55 per cent of the vote.
The election refused to be recognised by the European Union. The European External Action Service said in a statement that the EU supports Georgia’s territorial integrity. A similar statement was made by the UK, Canada, Iceland, Norway, and Ukraine.
Official Tbilisi earlier protested over the holding of elections in Abkhazia, calling them illegitimate.
Abkhazia, which was an autonomous republic within Georgia during the Soviet era, declared independence after the war with Georgia in 1993. At that time the independence of the region was not recognised by any state in the world.
In 2008, after the Russian-Georgian war, Abkhazia’s independence was recognised by Russia and four other states – Venezuela, Nauru, Nicaragua and Syria.
Georgia considers separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by Russia and accuses Russia of violating the country’s territorial integrity, and considers the very fact of recognising independence to be part of the annexation of Abkhazia, a region that the UN recognises as part of Georgia.