SUKHUMI, Georgia (AP) — Separatist authorities in Georgia's Russian-backed Abkhazia province are threatening to open fire on any Georgian ships entering what they consider Abkhazian waters in the Black Sea.
The threat adds to tension between Georgia and separatist Abkhazia after Georgia’s war with Russia last year.
A
spokesman for Abkhazia’s President Sergei Bagapsh said the president
has ordered the navy to destroy any Georgian ship that violates what he
called Abkhazia’s sea border. Abkhazia claims that Georgia has illegally halted ships bound for the province.
Russia recognized Abkhazia as an independent nation after the war. But Abkhazia is not internationally recognized, and Georgia is trying to prevent what it considers illegal trade with the province.
