Feb 17, 2008, 17:15 GMT
Moscow - Shortly after the southern Serb province Kosovo declared independence on Sunday, the presidents of Georgia's breakaway provinces Abchasia and Southern Ossetia said they were planning similar initiatives.
'Abchasia will turn to Russia, the UN Security Council and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and ask for a recognition of its independence,' Abchasian President Sergei Bagapsh was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
'Southern Ossetia and Abchasia have a better political and legal basis for their recognition than Kosovo,' the President of Southern Ossetia, Eduard Kokojty, said.
He was convinced that the two regions would become independent shortly, he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned that other regions with 'separatist tendencies' might follow Kosovo's example. He accused the Kosovo Albanian on Thursday of 'unjustified and immoral' actions.
'With this development in Kosovo, Pandora's box has been opened,' Russian political scientist Andranik Migranyan said.
The recognition of the breakaway province clearly contravened international law and would cause a 'wave of instability,' he added.
According to the expert, Kosovo would become a 'precedent' for other conflict regions in Europe, such as the Basque country in Northern Spain or Corsica.
Russia has demanded an immediate crisis meeting of the United Nations Security Council following Kosovo's declaration of independence.
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