By Atlas Al

War torn and seeking independence, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are provinces of the sovereign state of Georgia. They are wannabe flags.

In the December 15, 2009 article, Abkhazia Is Recognized – by Nauru, the nytimes.com reports that the second smallest country in the world has officially recognized the breakaway Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries. Russia paid $50 million – or it’s possible Abkhazia and South Ossetia funneled money through Russia – to Nauru for their support.

This isn’t the first time the “influence” of Nauru – an internationally recognized sovereign state and member of the United Nations – has been bought. In 2002, China paid Nauru for statehood recognition, and then Nauru severed its ties with China to recognize Taiwan instead.

How can Nauru get away with this? They’re blatantly and inexcusably using their UN member status as a means of making a buck! If you cannot pay for the flag – having sex with a prostitute, for example – a country/region (Russia/Abkhazia, South Ossetia) should not be able to buy recognition of independence from another country (Nauru).

To top it off, if Russia truly cared about the Ossetian people’s welfare, shouldn’t they be advocating uniting South Ossetia with North Ossetia-Alania – which is part of the Russian Federation – to create a united Ossetian state?

Although only four countries recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia’s sovereignty – Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Nauru – many countries oppose the Russian invasion of South Ossetia in August 2008. The majority of the international community say it’s a Georgian problem and to let them deal with it. (Check out country responses regarding Abkhazian and South Ossetian sovereignty at International Recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Wikipedia.) 

Chinese news agency, Xinhua, reported that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon issued a statement around the time of the 2008 Russian-Georgian war saying, “The question of recognition of states is a matter for sovereign states to decide.”

Until it’s decided, Abkhazia and South Ossetia are still regions within greater Georgia and if you hook up with any Abkhazians or South Ossetians, you got the Georgian flag.

Flags of the World, European flags, Georgian flag, Russian flag, Nauruan flag