Dream of statehood still distant for Georgia rebels

By Christian Lowe - Analysis

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The dream of Georgia's separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions for fully-fledged statehood is still out of reach, even after their ally Russia, defying the West, recognised them as independent states.

Thousands of people in Abkhazia and South Ossetia poured on to the streets to drink wine and fire guns into the air when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recognised their independence. But when the hangovers wear off, the cold reality will remain.

The two tiny regions are recognised by no other state or international organisation, their economies are crippled by a Georgian economic blockade and Kremlin leaders -- not the separatists -- call most of the shots.

"It doesn't really change anything in terms of who will be controlling these areas because Russia already was," said Svante Cornell, an expert on Georgia at the Institute for Security and Development Policy, a Stockholm-based think tank.

Sergei Shamba, Abkhazia's separatist foreign minister, acknowledged his region still had a long way to go.

Even Russia's closest allies have failed to join the Kremlin in recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia, though ex-Soviet Belarus came close by saying it understood Russia's decision.

"For small Abkhazia, the recognition by Russia opens up many possibilities," Shamba told Reuters. "But we do not want the process of recognition to stop at that ... We will of course search for allies and friends."

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