ABSTRACT
Following the announcement that Mingrelian-born Zviad Gamsakhurdia had succeeded in becoming its first elected president, the Republic of Georgia declared itself independent from the USSR on 9 April 1991. On 25 August 1990 Georgia’s hitherto Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic of Abkhazia had declared itself to be a full Soviet Socialist Republic, independent of Georgia. Though this declaration was promptly rescinded by the authorities in Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, Vladislav Ardzinba was appointed President of Abkhazia on 4 December 1990. At the time of writing (June 1991), although no formal announcement has yet appeared, recognition of Abkhazia’s republican status may be imminent.2 Thus, tension in this and other regions of Transcaucasia seems certain to remain high.
