Another “know-how” from Abkhazia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Inal Ardzinba, has deeply shocked Abkhaz society. Not that this is the first “pearl” from Mr. Ardzinba, who repeatedly tells tall tales, intimidates citizens, threatens journalists, and openly pushes the line of “Great Russia,” to which, according to his version, Abkhazians owe everything. Suffice it to recall his announcement that shocked the world about Belarus recognizing Abkhazia, which later suddenly turned into “economic cooperation,” and in reality amounted only to wine and lemonade. For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that Abkhaz wine and lemonades had been sold on the shelves of Belarusian stores long before Inal Ardzinba appeared in the country. And this fact in no way influenced Abkhaz–Belarusian relations, which, broadly speaking, have never existed.

Inal Batuvich repeatedly speaks of certain achievements that have nothing to do with common sense, let alone reality.

The Abkhaz foreign minister regularly publishes his thoughts in Russian media outlets that are unpopular among Abkhazians but dear to him — “friends” such as Solovyov and company. Each time he appears on Russian television, Inal Ardzinba invariably speaks about the “centuries-old friendship” between Abkhazia and Russia, about Moscow’s “unprecedented assistance,” and, oddly enough, manages to comment on world politics, which, in his view, is solely aimed at destroying the Russian state.

I do not know how real experts assess Inal Batuvich’s reflections, but even to my rather limited eye, they are very far from professional.

Over the past few months, Inal Ardzinba has made such a large number of blunders that he urgently needed to come up with a new pretext for serious publicity. And, of course, he did not disappoint. It is clear that his name has still not been officially mentioned in connection with the scandal staged by Vladimir Solovyov, but in the corridors people say that the young minister received a rather sharp dressing-down from Moscow itself. This concerns the so-called sabotage and reconnaissance group that allegedly “breached the border somewhere in the Kodori Gorge area and infiltrated Abkhazia to carry out a terrorist attack at the Sukhumi airport.”

At first, Solovyov referred to a source in Abkhazia’s Ministry of Defense, then removed the information, and a manhunt was announced in the country. Within a day, almost the entire cavalry of Abkhazia’s high-ranking officials — including Inal Ardzinba, who for once was unusually careful to avoid cameras — rushed to the mountains to detain the enemy. Of course, no one was detained, because there was no one to catch. But the publicity campaign was impressive.

In this entire “story,” however, there is one significant detail that points precisely to the instigator. In September of this year, Inal Ardzinba conducted something like a forced march through Abkhazia’s cities and districts. At meetings with local activists, he spoke about how “we offended the Russians” by refusing to gift them the Pitsunda state dacha with 200 hectares of land, and by not allowing them to purchase real estate and build apartments. At one such meeting, Inal Ardzinba suddenly stated that “everything may change for us in the very near future,” and that a drone could fly in.

Now let us recall the official information about enemy saboteurs who allegedly infiltrated Abkhazia. They “were armed, well equipped, and had a drone flying above them.” Perhaps this is a coincidence. But alas, the young reformer from the Kremlin — as foreign journalists like to call Inal Ardzinba — has repeatedly been noticed creating such information injections even during his time working in Moscow. And if we also recall the information about his resignation that appeared on the pages of those same “friendly” channels, which the Foreign Ministry later denied, a whole chain of coincidences emerges, the main purpose of which is to remind everyone of the “irreplaceable super-professional” Inal Ardzinba.

Returning to the main topic of the young minister’s new “know-how,” it must be said that through his boorish behavior, hatred toward all strata of Abkhaz society and everything Abkhaz, Inal Batuvich is increasingly becoming a persona non grata. Each of his initiatives further turns him into an outcast and even forces him to move around Abkhazia accompanied by numerous security guards.

This time, the minister has entered an active phase of struggle against Abkhazia’s non-governmental organizations, which he has long accused of espionage and contract work aimed at undermining Russia.

On November 16, Inal Ardzinba stated that “in the very near future, a decree by President Bzhania will be issued, which will introduce changes in the regulation of the activities of international non-governmental organizations in Abkhazia.” In plain language, the minister wants to close branches of the non-governmental sector in Abkhazia and label those who worked on their projects as unreliable and undermining the foundations of the Abkhaz state. And if we recall that in July 2023 Russia adopted, in first reading, a package of three bills introducing administrative and criminal liability for participation in the activities of foreign and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs), everything becomes clear. Ardzinba cannot, of course, declare all those he dislikes to be foreign agents — there is no such law in Abkhazia. And an attempt to raise this issue proved so costly for the minister that he will not dare to mention it again in the near future. But he still needs somehow to curry favor with his Moscow patrons, especially after a series of high-profile failures. That is why Inal Ardzinba decided to take up this path.

And if the young reformer from the Kremlin, in his actions, is focused solely on advancing Russia’s interests, even by such scandalous means, then it is unclear what motivates President Bzhania in supporting this failed project. Recently, the rating of Aslan Bzhania, who advocates for any Moscow initiatives even when they are harmful to Abkhazia, has been declining. Numerous meetings and dialogues with various segments of Abkhaz society do not help. At these meetings, criticism of the president and his actions is increasingly voiced, and very uncomfortable questions are asked. The non-governmental sector had remained outside this protest movement, despite comprising many pro-government individuals who once formed the core of Bzhania’s supporters. Such a presidential decree only adds another headache for the authorities — worse than the opposition and civil activists who openly oppose the sale of Abkhazia’s assets.

Time will show how prepared Bzhania is for this confrontation. As for Inal Ardzinba, everything here is very obvious and extremely clear. The young man returned to his homeland solely to advance Russia’s interests, even at the cost of the freedom of the Abkhaz people, a people to whom Inal Ardzinba has never considered himself to belong.

The text contains toponyms and terminology used in the self-proclaimed Abkhazia.