The incumbent de facto president of South Ossetia, Anatoly Bibilov, has announced his intention to join Russia and has set a date for the referendum.
According to local media, it will be held on July 17th. Bibilov said that the "big dream" will soon come true, because South Ossetia and Russia are "connected by one story" and the time has come to unite "once and for all." The electoral commission recognised the signatures of 4,105 people requesting for the referendum, according to RES agency. The voting question would be "Do you favour the union of the Republic of South Ossetia?"
"Relevant documents were submitted to the court. We are waiting for the court decision and in the near future, our big dream will come true soon. Russia and South Ossetia are linked by a single history. It is not just about partnership and friendship. It is more of a two-brother relationship when the older brother always understands and supports you, while the younger one respects and helps the older one. The time has come to unite once and for all. This means the beginning of a new history," said the de-facto South Ossetian leader.
It is known that after May 21st in the Tskhinvali region, the "inauguration" of so-called president Alan Gagloev will be held. The South Ossetian news agency RES on the other hand said that Gagloev is expected to be inaugurated on May 24th. The newly-elected leader seemed somewhat hesitant to push for unification with Russia by arguing that as soon as the time came, "South Ossetia" would be ready to hold a referendum on unification with Russia. During the elections Gagloev expressed scepticism of the idea, accusing Bibilov of abusing the issue of reunification. Gagloyev also accused the incumbent president of putting the Russian leadership in an unpleasant position.
Gagloev also told Russian official news agency RIA a few days after his election that he was not averse to organising a referendum, but only if "there is a signal" from Moscow. He also noted that South Ossetia had previously had similar referendums that Russia had ignored.
All began on March 30th when Bibilov stated his intention to join South Ossetia and Russia 'under one country,' claiming that Russia and the 'Russian world' supported those who were faithful to it and 'fought Nazism,' a reference to Putin's assertion that he invaded Ukraine to 'de-Nazify' it. He cited Russia's involvement in 'defending' Ossetians by recognising South Ossetia after the August War in 2008.
In March, official Tbilisi condemned the referendum announced by Tskhivanli, saying that "it is unacceptable to talk about any referendums in the light of the fact that the territory of Georgia is occupied."
Russian authorities have already expressed reservations about the potential. Indeed, Moscow sees how Tbilisi has been ambivalent toward the war in Ukraine and the Kremlin might indeed consider the referendum as an untimely affair.
