De facto Abkhazia is prohibiting projects that aim to establish contacts between the citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia and citizens of Georgia, Ekho Kavkaza reports.

USAID-funded projects in occupied Abkhazia have been banned, while John Pennell, Mission Director for USAID/Caucasus, has been declared persona non grata.

According to the so-called foreign minister Inal Ardzinba, the need for new approaches to relations with international non-governmental organizations and UN agencies is dictated by "the non-transparent activities and attempts to misinform the ministry of foreign affairs of Abkhazia".

Ardzinba explains that USAID had to implement a project in Abkhazia with a budget of 8 million dollars and the so-called Ministry received a questionnaire regarding this project. However, it contained "deliberately vague wording of the project's goals and objectives."

"During the practical implementation of this project, the creation of dialogue platforms in online and offline formats was highlighted to establish direct contact between citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia and citizens of Georgia, including between refugees," Ardzinba said.

According to him, "vague goals and objectives" achieve the main goal - "creating social conditions for the promotion of Georgian policy in Abkhazia". In addition, Abkhazia is considered in this document as an "occupied territory of Georgia", and all actions are aimed at "restoring territorial integrity" and “combating the harmful influence of the Kremlin”.

"In connection with the mentioned facts, the following decisions have been made: the declaration of USAID Regional Director John Pennell as persona non grata, new projects with partial or full financial support of USAID will no longer be certified by the Ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia, it will be prohibited to implement projects, the purpose of which is to establish contacts between citizens of the Republic of Abkhazia and Georgia. The Ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia will not approve vague and inaccurate information that does not fully reflect the goals and objectives of the project," Ardzinba explained.

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