TBILISI, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - A senior government official of Abkhazia said Friday that the self-proclaimed republic would never agree to give up its hard-gained independence and return under Georgia's control.
"There is no way Abkhaz authorities will ever give up independence, paid for with human blood," Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said. "The nation's unanimous vote for sovereignty in a 1999 referendum confirmed that. So no one in Georgia or elsewhere should have illusory hopes on that matter."
Shamba's remarks came in response to the Georgian parliament speaker's statement that Tbilisi was willing to offer broad autonomy status to the breakaway region.
Earlier this year, Abkhazia presented a plan for resolving its long-running conflict with Georgia. It calls on Tbilisi to apologize for its blockade of the Abkhaz people and urges the sides to sign a peace treaty that would provide guarantees for security in the region.
Abkhazia has been independent de facto since Georgian troops were driven out in 1993. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is determined to bring the breakaway region back under Tbilisi's fold.
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