Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in occupied Abkhazia, Georgia on September 28 and met with de-facto leader Aslan Bzhania in Bichvinta.

McCain Institute Executive Director Evelyn Farkas told the Accent that "it is an affront to the sovereignty of Georgia to see the Belarusian leader visiting a breakaway region under the control of the Russian government."

According to Farkas, who served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia/Ukraine/Eurasia, Balkans, Caucasus and conventional arms control, Georgia should make clear that it is participating in international sanctions.

"It is most unusual for a head of state to visit another state uninvited by his or her counterpart. In this case it is also an affront to the sovereignty of Georgia to see the Belarusian leader visiting a breakaway region under the control of the Russian government. The Georgian government can be expected to roundly condemn this visit and to draw it to the attention of the international community through the United Nations and every other appropriate venue. Belarus is under a series of international sanctions. Georgia should also make clear that it is participating in these sanctions," she told the Accent.

On September 28 the Prime Minister, the President and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia announced that they "strongly condemn Alexander Lukashenko's visit to occupied Abkhazia". They called the visit "an unacceptable violation of the law on the occupied territories of Georgia".

On September 28, the Ambassador of Belarus was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, and a protest rally organized by the "Girchi - More Freedom" party took place near the embassy of Belarus in Tbilisi, ​​where portraits of Putin and Lukashenko were burned.

This is Lukashenko’s first visit to the occupied region while in office. His last official visit to Tbilisi took place in March, 2018.

On February 7 Lukashenko said that he does not rule out recognizing the independence of Russian-occupied Abkhazia, Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia and annexed Crimean Peninsula “as long as I understand and President [Vladimir Putin] tells me there is a need for it.”

Moscow recognized the independence of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia on August 26, 2008, two weeks after the end of the Russo-Georgian war. Syria, Venezuela, Nauru, and Nicaragua are the only other nations that recognize the two regions’ independence from Georgia. Tbilisi and most of the international community regard the two regions as part of Georgia.

In 2009, Minsk was considering to recognize Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions, but eventually refused to follow Moscow’s suit. Lukashenko then said he rejected the recognition because Moscow refused to share negative consequences, including sanctions expected for Belarus from the West in case of such decision.