Multipolarity: view from South Ossetia

Зынаргъ æмбæлттæ!

Æхсызгон мын у Республикæ Хуссар Ирыстоны æппæт адæмы номæй ацы ахсджиаг æмæ нысаниуæгджын æхсæнадæмон конференцийы хайадисджытæн зæгъын «Уæ бон хорз!» Бузныджы ныхæстæ мæ фæнды зæгъын Конференци чи бацæттæ кодта æмæ нын фадат чи радта нæ хъуыды зæгъын, уыцы адæмæн!

Dear friends!

On behalf of the people of the Republic of South Ossetia, the rector, the staff and the students of Alexandre Tibilov South Ossetia State University I have the honour to greet the participants of the marathon under the auspices of the International Russophile Movement, which was established in March, 2023, and the aim of which is to unite all those who stand in solidarity with Russia in its struggle for a just multipolar world order. We sincerely thank the organizers of the Conference for the opportunity to demonstrate our compelling stand in support of the Movement of Russophiles and its ideals, and our readiness, along with Russia and its allies, to defend the principles of justice and the supremacy of law in international affairs.

The Republic of South Ossetia defended its independence at the price of its people’s blood. We will never forget the great assistance of brotherly Russia, the logical result of which was the recognition and final establishment of the statehood of the RSO on August 26, 2008. Later the Republic was recognized by major Latin American countries – Venezuela and Nicaragua, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Republic of Nauru.

A.Tibilov South Ossetia State University is doing a great deal of work to popularize the Russian language and literature, Russian history and Russian culture. There are many centres in the university in this regard, e.g. Russian Centre of the Foundation “Russkiy Mir”, several literature centers of famous Russian writers, Association of Teachers of Russian Language and Literature of South Ossetia etc. A science magazine “Русское слово в Южной Осетии” (“The Russian word in South Ossetia”) is published in our university.

I would like to emphasize once again that the goals and objectives of the new movement are congenial to us. We share the same views on universal traditional values that Western countries are trying so hard to overthrow, imposing alien neoliberal ideals and standards. In reality, under the banner of promoting democracy, the original culture of other countries is being erased, the institution of the family is being destroyed, the most important aspects of the unique political culture of each state, national idea, etc. are completely ignored. Peoples with their own rich culture and centuries-old traditions are turning into "cannon fodder" serving the interests of Western countries and corporations. The most telling illustration of this is what happened in Georgia during the presidency of Mikhail Saakashvili and in a number of other states that underwent accelerated "democratization" according to Western patterns.

Having created in his day an aggressive nationalist regime, Saakashvili, at the instigation of Western "hawks", attempted to accelerate Georgia's entry into NATO. The main obstacle on this path were South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the former autonomies who did not want to break ties with Russia and resign their independence, won at a heavy price. After unsuccessful attempts to squeeze the Russian Federation out of the negotiation formats and to achieve the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers, the Tbilisi regime decided on a military solution to the conflict, which became the most barbaric episode of its irrational policy.

In August 2008, Georgian troops, trained by Western instructors, unleashed multiple rocket launchers and heavy-gun armament on peaceful neighborhoods of the city of Tskhinval. And only the timely intervention of the Russian Federation, which forced Georgia to peace, saved the people of South Ossetia from a new genocide.

These crimes against my country committed with the tacit consent of the West went unpunished, and so did the actions of the Kiev regime against Donbass. Moreover, in June, 30th, 2022, the International Criminal Court initiated a criminal case for committing war crimes against the three representatives of South Ossetia (the injured party). At the same time, the International Criminal Court had no questions about any of the Georgian military or politician responsible for the mass death of civilians and the brutal murder of Russian peacekeepers. And this is another ugly manifestation of the unipolar world order, its policy of double standards. In fact, we are dealing with a new form of totalitarianism that justifies any atrocities committed in the interests of the collective West.

The same approach and the same methods on an even larger scale can be observed on the example of Ukraine. After the failure of Saakashvili's adventure, the next step of the West was to turn Ukraine into its main military and political foothold in the post-Soviet space. Unleashing with the help of the Kiev regime a war against all Russian, the United States and its allies are thereby trying to maintain their hegemony in international relations and monopoly on the truth. The prospect of losing the exclusive right to turn a whole group of countries into pariahs and invade the territory of sovereign states with impunity causes their undisguised aggression and a desire to suppress all those who stand up for just multipolar world order.

In order to impose its ideological trends and narratives on the rest of the world they organize the so-called "Summits for Democracy". However, their attempts to consolidate the Western community and its supporters in other regions of the world on a common ideological platform brings more and more doubtful results.

It is obvious, that the ideology of neoliberalism, opposed to national sovereignty and the distinctive culture of other countries, causes increasing rejection on the part of the progressive humanity. Numerous tragic examples of the export of American democracy, which led to the deaths of millions of people in the Balkans, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Afghanistan, excluding the victims of conflicts in the Caucasus, Ukraine and other regions creates not very optimistic background for "summits" of this kind.

South Ossetia fully supports Russia's actions in Ukraine. Today, South Ossetian servicemen and volunteers take an active part in the special military operation. South Ossetia regularly sends humanitarian aid to the war zone. The Ukrainian nationalists brought Donbass into a situation which South Ossetia experienced for many years resisting the aggression of Georgian nationalists. South Ossetia was the first state to recognize the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics in 2014. South Ossetian volunteers were among the first to help the residents of Donbass. A logical continuation of this principled line was to support the decisions on recognizing the independence of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhskaya and Kherson regions and their further entry into Russia.

For South Ossetia the collapse of the unipolar world order opens up broad prospects for the development of cooperation with other countries. Our efforts in this direction have been blocked under pressure of the United States and its satellites, including Georgia. South Ossetia has been deprived of access to the platforms of existing international organizations, including United Nations.

The next step in contributing to the policy of isolation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was the decision of the European Union, adopted last year, not to recognize Russian passports issued to the residents of these two republics. European officials were not deterred by the fact that their discriminatory decision is a serious violation of international norms, which they themselves had earlier broadcast from different platforms.

Taking this into account we attach particular importance to the participation of our republic in the International Geneva Discussions on Security and Stability in Transcaucasia. With the support of the United States and its satellites, Georgia has been refusing to provide legal security guarantees to the republic for almost 15 years, increasing its military arsenal and cooperation with NATO. Revanchist moods in Georgian society, newly exposed during the recent riots in Tbilisi, as well as unceasing calls for the opening of a "second front" against Russia, pose a serious security threat to South Ossetia and the region as a whole.

We think the problem is that Tbilisi and Western capitals still do not want to admit the truth about the events of 2008 and the current realities. We are being denied the right to determine our own destiny and to be a full member of the international community. They must realize that there is no other alternative for us but to be near Russia. We are bound by strong ties of brotherhood, friendship and alliance. The special character of relations between our countries was noted during the recent Russian-South Ossetian summit.

With the support of Russia and other allies, South Ossetia will continue its efforts to break out of international isolation and develop equal relations with other countries. We cooperate effectively with the states that have recognized the independence of the RSO – Abkhazia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Syria and Nauru. The efforts of authorized representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Ossetia in Italy, Turkey and the Benelux states make it possible to establish ties with the parliamentary and public circles of these countries, including cultural projects. Ordinary people in the West show a lively, genuine interest in my people, their culture and customs. They are open to dialogue with us without the superficial politicization imposed by Western officials.

The problem is that Tbilisi and its Western patrons are deliberately conveying distorted information about my country to Western society. That is why we will continue delivering the truth about South Ossetia to the world community, its successes on the way to building a democratic state, and believe me, they are very convincing. No doubt, our participation in such representative international conferences will contribute to solving this problem.

Thank you for your attention.