The new de facto president of the separatist region abandons his predecessor’s plan to hold the vote on July 17.
The leader of Georgia’s separatist region of South Ossetia has canceled plans to hold a referendum to join Russia that his predecessor had scheduled for July 17.
South Ossetia was the center of the war between Russia and Georgia in 2008, after which the Kremlin recognized the territory as an independent state and set up military bases there.
In a decree issued on Monday, the de facto president of the Moscow-controlled enclave, Alan Gagloev, invoked “uncertainty about the legal consequences of the referendum issue.”
The decree also stressed “the inadmissibility of a unilateral decision of a referendum on issues affecting the legitimate rights and interests of the Russian Federation.”
Gagloev ordered “consultations with the Russian side without delay on the full range of issues related to the greater integration of South Ossetia and the Russian Federation.”
On May 13, Gagloev’s predecessor, Anatoly Bibilov, signed a decree to hold the referendum, citing the region’s “historic aspiration” to join Russia, his office said at the time. .
Bibilov lost his re-election candidacy earlier this month. Russia has expressed hope that Gagloev will preserve “continuity” in ties with Moscow.
Tbilisi has previously denounced South Ossetia’s plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia as “unacceptable”.
The region of South Ossetia, which has only 50,000 inhabitants, seceded from Georgia in the early 1990’s in a bloody civil war.
In August 2008, Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Georgia, fighting pro-Russian militias in South Ossetia, after bombing Georgian villages.
The fighting ended five days later with a European Union-mediated ceasefire, but killed more than 700 people and displaced tens of thousands of ethnic Georgians.
The aftermath of the war saw the Kremlin recognize the independence of South Ossetia and another separatist region, Abkhazia, which has since remained under Russian military control.
The conflict marked the culmination of tensions with the Kremlin over Tbilisi’s firmly pro-Western commitment to join the European Union and NATO.
In March, Hague-based International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan sought arrest warrants for three current and former South Ossetian officials in connection with war crimes against people of Georgian ethnic group.
The alleged crimes include torture, inhuman treatment, unlawful detention, violation of personal dignity, hostage-taking and illegal transfer of persons.
Last year, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Russia was responsible for post-war human rights violations.