The Georgian sea blockade of Abkhazia has been in force since 2004, when it was ordered to be imposed by Georgian president

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil Saakashvili ( ka, მიხეილ სააკაშვილი ; uk, Міхеіл Саакашвілі ; born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist.

. As a response to the

2008 South Ossetia war The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

, Georgia moved to intensify Abkhazia and South Ossetia's isolation, declaring both entities as

Russian-occupied territories Russian-occupied territories are lands under Russian military occupation. The term is applied to territories in Georgia ( Abkhazia and South Ossetia), Moldova (Transnistria), and parts of Ukraine. Additionally, the four southernmost Kuril Isl ...

outlawing economic activity in the regions without Tbilisi's permission. Several cargo ships in Georgian waters have been detained by the Georgian coast guard in 2009 on the grounds of violating of Georgia's law on occupied territories, which bans economic activities in breakaway Abkhazia and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

without Georgia's consent.

Georgian naval raids

Twenty-three cargo ships have been detained in the Black Sea by the Georgian Navy in 2009. Abkhaz authorities have called the Georgian actions "

piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

." In mid-August, Georgia seized a Turkish tanker delivering gasoline and diesel to Abkhazia. The ship was taken into Georgian government ownership, and may later be auctioned by the Georgian ministry of finance. A Georgian court sentenced the captain of the ship to 24 years in prison for smuggling and violating the ban on unauthorized economic activity with Abkhazia.

Reactions

On 2 September 2009, President of Abkhazia

Sergei Bagapsh Sergei Uasyl-ipa Bagapsh, ka, სერგეი ბაგაფში, russian: Сергей Васильевич Багапш, translit=Sergey Vasilyevich Bagapsh (4 March 1949 – 29 May 2011) was an Abkhaz politician who served as th ...

warned that the Abkhazian naval forces will destroy any Georgian ships engaged in future "pirate actions". Georgia's deputy prime minister Temur Yakobashvili shrugged off the Abkhazian threat, saying that Abkhazia has no technical means to destroy ships. "Moreover," Yakobashvili said, "it is not his agapsh'sbusiness. It looks more like a pre-election bluff." The Georgian Foreign Minister,

Grigol Vashadze Grigol Vashadze ( ka, გრიგოლ ვაშაძე, also transliterated as Gregory Vashadze) (born July 19, 1958) is a Georgian politician, diplomat and a former member of the Cabinet of Georgia in the capacity of the Minister for Cultur ...

, said Bagapsh was a criminal and it was up to Georgian law enforcement agencies to respond to his threats.Georgian FM: Bagapsh is a Criminal

Civil Georgia ''Civil Georgia'' ( ka, სივილ ჯორჯია) is a Tbilisi-based free daily news website run by Georgian NGO UN Association of Georgia. It is supported by USAID, Friedrich Ebert Foundation and Swiss Agency for Development and Coop ...

. September 2, 2009 The Georgian authorities said Russia was behind the Abkhaz side's threat.Russian Warns Georgia Against Ship Seizures
Civil Georgia. September 3, 2009 Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman of the Russian Foreign Ministry said, on September 3, 2009, further seizure of cargo ships en route to Abkhazia by Georgian coast guard may cause “serious armed incidents” and blamed Georgia for possible escalation. Earlier, Deputy head of Russian Federal Security Service border guard department, Yevgeny Inchin, said on August 28, 2009, that a unit of the Russian border guards in Abkhazia would be dispatched to provide security for ships entering Abkhazia. This statement was denounced by Georgia as a violation of the 1982

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

European Union Monitoring Mission The European Union (EU) has undertaken a number of overseas missions and operations, drawing on civilian and military capabilities, in several countries across three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia), as part of its Common Security and Def ...

in Georgia (EUMM) said on September 2, 2009, that it was concerned about the statements by the Georgian, Abkhaz, and Russian sides on the matter and the issue was to be included in the agenda of the meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) scheme between the sides planned for September 8 in Gali.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Blockade of Abkhazia 2004 in Georgia (country) 2004 in Abkhazia 2009 in Georgia (country) 2009 in Abkhazia 2009 in Turkey Abkhaz–Georgian conflict Russo-Georgian War Abkhazia–Turkey relations Georgia (country)–Turkey relations