VOA常速英语2007-Georgian Separatist Regions Cause Friction Betwe

By Andre de Nesnera
Washington
11 October 2007

Relations remain tense between Russia and Georgia several weeks after Georgian forces killed two Russian military officers in the Georgian separatist region of Abkhazia. In this background report from Washington, VOA Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at the major source of friction¹ between Moscow and Tbilisi - the issue of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Abkhazia is located in the northwestern corner of Georgia while South Ossetia is situated² in the north-central part of that country. Both areas border Russia.

Robert Legvold with Columbia University says the two regions are technically³ part of Georgia, but each has a strong separatist movement with different goals in mind.

"The Abkhaz - their objective, they maintain, is independence," he said. "They are not seeking to pull away from, separate themselves from Georgia and then become a part of Russia - but become independent. The international community does not recognize the claimed independence on the part of Abkhazia. But they have a functioning government and the writ⁴ of the Georgian government does not extend to most of the Abkhaz territory."

Legvold says South Ossetia has another approach.

"Again, it's a separatist movement with a separate government," he said. "The authority of the Georgians extends to, as a practical matter, to some portions of South Ossetia, including a portion that's guided by a man named [Dmitri] Sanakayev who is sympathetic to the Georgians - he's South Ossetian but he is sympathetic to the Georgians. But the remainder of South Ossetia is under a different leadership, very oriented toward Russia and in this case, the South Ossetians do seek to be reincorporated into Russia, not the least because there is a section of South Ossetia - North Ossetia - that is part of the Russian Federation⁵."

A major source of friction between Moscow and Tbilisi is the presence of Russian troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Ostensibly, they are there as peacekeepers, but Tbilisi says their presence only reinforces separatist tendencies there - a charge rejected by Russian officials.

Last month, Georgian forces killed two Russian military officers in Abkhazia.

"The Russians are saying they were carrying out anti-terrorism exercises and the Georgians are saying: 'What on earth were you doing carrying out anti-terrorism exercises in our country?' These are issues; these are problems," said Olga Oliker, a Russia expert with the Rand Corporation.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has vowed⁶ to bring the secessionist regions back into the country.

Oliker says such statements worry Moscow.

"For Russia, I think they feel that Saakashvili's government especially has been very provocative⁷ in its actions and statements, talking about taking back control of these breakaway regions which are inhabited by a lot of ethnic⁸ Russians and Russia has offered all folks living there Russian citizenship," she said. "The Russians, though, are really concerned that there will be some sort of crisis in Georgia, particularly involving the separatist regions and Russia will have no choice but to intervene militarily - and that's not something the Russians want. So they see in Georgia a bit of a security threat."

Experts, such as Ronald Suny with the University of Chicago, say it will be difficult to resolve that contentious⁹ issue.

"Given that there are these two regions, Abkhazia and [South] Ossetia which have separated themselves from Georgia de facto, if not de jure, it's the Russians who, because of their support of those separatist regions, have prevented the Georgians from reintegrating them," he said. "Now it must be said that the Abkhaz and many, many Ossetines like that Russian support and they don't want to be reintegrated into Georgia. And so Saakashvili has got a dilemma¹⁰: how to find a modus vivendi, some way to bring those regions back under Tbilisi's rule."

Suny and other experts do not believe that the full reintegration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia into Georgia will happen anytime soon.

1 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

2 situated   

adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的

参考例句：

• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。
• She is awkwardly situated.她的处境困难。

3 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

4 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

5 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

6 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

7 provocative   

adj.挑衅的，煽动的，刺激的，挑逗的

参考例句：

• She wore a very provocative dress.她穿了一件非常性感的裙子。
• His provocative words only fueled the argument further.他的挑衅性讲话只能使争论进一步激化。

8 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

9 contentious   

adj.好辩的，善争吵的

参考例句：

• She was really not of the contentious fighting sort.她委实不是好吵好闹的人。
• Since then they have tended to steer clear of contentious issues.从那时起，他们总想方设法避开有争议的问题。

10 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。