Presidents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia Anatoly Bibilov and Aslan Bzhania discussed issues of cooperation in the expanded format negotiations, the press service of the head of the South Ossetian state reported.
Aslan Bzhania congratulated the participants of the meeting on the Victory and Independence Day.
"I would like to congratulate everyone on this holiday, on a great holiday for the people of Abkhazia. I would like to greet you once again and thank you for being with us on this significant day for us. Welcome to Abkhazia, we have a special fraternal long-standing relationship. These sympathies and respect have great historical roots, and we are doing everything to pass on these qualities to the younger generation," the President of Abkhazia said,
Anatoly Bibilov has noted that the relations that are developing between the two countries give confidence that Abkhazia and South Ossetia will develop cooperation.
"We will be building up our relationship. I would especially like to note the high interaction between our foreign ministries, the high degree of interaction between our defense ministries, and, of course, we very much hope that this development will also be between our ministries of culture," Anatoly Bibilov said.
He has reminded that back in 1945, the Abkhaz theater staged the Ossetian play "The Groom" (Usgur).
“I think it would be nice if we worked out the issue and exchanged trips of our theaters, so that performances of the Abkhazian theater were shown in South Ossetia, and, accordingly, the South Ossetian theater would perform in Abkhazia. There are many more such areas that would contribute to closer cooperation and the development of our relations," Bibilov said.
As part of the events timed to the Victory and Independence Day, a solemn ceremony will be held, flowers will be laid at the Memorials to the people of Abkhazia who perished during the Patriotic War, memorials to the first and second presidents of the Republic of Armenia.
For the South Ossetian part the negotiations were attended by Foreign Minister Dmitry Medoev, Defense Minister Ibragim Gasseev, Presidential Adviser Dmitry Atroshchenko, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of South Ossetia to the Republic of Abkhazia Oleg Botsiev. For the Abkhaz part: Vice President Badra Gunba, Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab, Acting Head of the Presidential Executive Office Zurab Kajaya; Foreign Minister Daur Kove; Defense Minister Vladimir Anua; Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Abkhazia to the Republic of South Ossetia Alan Elbakiev.
