I don't particularly care if South Ossetia leaves Georgia or not.
I'm just pointing out that its departure is not due to an actual grassroots independence movement, but to Russian military occupation.
Let's not kid ourselves.
The two million ethnic Albanian Kosovars wanted to leave Serbia and were energized to do so by the departure of Slovenia and Croatia and Macedonia and Bosnia and Montenegro - and figured that if Montenegro, which is basically ethnically Serb and one-third their population, could leave Serbia they certainly could. After all, Albanians were close to 20% of Serbia's population before Kosovo left.
Anyone who thinks that 65,000 South Ossetians - maybe 1.25% of Georgia's population - realistically wanted to make a go of it as a separate nation is smoking crack.
“The two million ethnic Albanian Kosovars wanted to leave Serbia and were energized to do so by the departure of Slovenia and Croatia and Macedonia and Bosnia and Montenegro - and figured that if Montenegro, which is basically ethnically Serb and one-third their population, could leave Serbia they certainly could.”
The difference was that under the old Yugoslav Constitution, republics had the right to leave, at least on paper, while autonomous provinces (which Kosovo was) didn’t.
“Anyone who thinks that 65,000 South Ossetians - maybe 1.25% of Georgia’s population - realistically wanted to make a go of it as a separate nation is smoking crack.”
True, but then again Putin may not want a independent South Ossetia,but rather seeks to attach it to North Ossetia.
Oh and BTW wideawake, you might want to keep in mind that Kosovo is not a country and never will be. It’s still governed by Resolution #1244 and will never get a UN seat. Likewise, well over 80% of the world’s nations have not and never will recognize Kosovo— that includes India, the world’s biggest democracy, as well as Brazil, Indonesia, Israel, the Philippines, Egypt, Spain, South Africa, New Zealand and many others. Kosovo will never be a nation, though it should receive autonomy within Serbia amid the presence of international peacekeeping forces.