BRUSSELS - EU foreign ministers expressed concern Monday that Russia could be readying to recognise Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia, weeks after Kosovo's Western-backed secession from Serbia.
The ministers, meeting in Brussels, have been alarmed by a decision last week by Russia's foreign ministry to lift trade restrictions on Abkhazia, one of two breakaway Georgian territories that lie on its southern border.
"If now Russian state corporations are going to move in with investments, these are moves which could look as a de facto annexation to Russia," Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt told reporters.
"That is of course a source of great concern, if that were to be the case."
Russia's foreign ministry said on Thursday that Moscow "no longer considers itself bound by the terms" of a sanctions accord approved by the ex-Soviet Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in 1996.
Abkhazia and the other separatist minded region, South Ossetia, have recently called for international recognition of their self-declared independence, citing Kosovo as a precedent.
Kosovo announced on February 17 that it was breaking away from Serbia; a move endorsed by several European Union nations and the United States, but deeply opposed by Russia.
"It's a point of concern for us because the Russian Federation and the CIS decided to draw certain parallels with Kosovo on this issue," said Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, whose country now holds the EU presidency.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in conflicts in the early 1990s in which thousands of people were killed and hundreds of thousands of ethnic-Georgians were forced to leave their homes.
With economic and diplomatic support from Russia, the two Caucasus mountain provinces have existed as de facto independent states since then.
However, no country, including Russia, has officially recognised their independence and Georgia says it intends to restore control.
Moscow fought unsuccessfully to prevent Western recognition of Kosovo's independence, warning that Kosovo could serve as a precedent for other separatists.
But the EU, which is building up a vast justice and civilian mission to ease the transition to independence, insists that Kosovo is a "sui generis" case which sets no international legal precedent
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said: "there is a growing preoccupation and anxiety that Russia may be paving the way for recognition of Abkhazia," according to her spokeswoman.
"Georgia's territorial integrity has always been clearly supported by the EU."
Ferrero-Waldner said Sweden and Poland had written to her calling on the EU "to do more to contribute to Georgia's stability," ahead of legislative elections due in May in the former Soviet satellite state.
bur-loc/pvh/ach
03/10/2008 18:06 GMT