Georgia/Russia Border

Our project will be focused on the border between Georgia and Russia pre and post-breakup of the USSR. This region has transitioned from an undisputed, broadly delimited border to a heavily contested one that resulted in a war.

The aforementioned border has changed throughout the past century from communist-run USSR to the Russian Federation. The tumultuous and unstable relationship between these two countries has led to a reversing border that is yet to be fully delimited and demarcated. Considering the Georgian-Russian border has not been fully agreed upon, this dispute led to the Russian invasion in 2008. Historic Russian control over the Caucasus region and persistent tensions may lead to further complications in the future.

In 1920, Russia and Georgia agreed on a border that had been in the process ever since Georgia declared their independence from the Soviet Union. The roughly defined border that had been presented was only allowed under the condition that Georgia would not house any military forces that could jeopardize the union. In 1921, this agreement was broken once the Soviet Union retook Georgia as a territory.

It is important to note that the border between Russia and Georgia is not officially delimited or demarcated to this day. However, the Alma-Ata Declaration, signed on December 21, 1991, was the first attempt to outline these borders. This declaration disestablished the USSR and created the Commonwealth of Independent States. This commonwealth was a loose organization that aimed to economically unite multiple nations of the former Soviet Union. Georgia was excluded from the signing of this document. In the Georgian Constitution, the signing of this declaration (and therefore also the fall of the USSR) determined the borders of Georgia. It is written in the preamble of their constitution that upon this date, the territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders are recognized by Georgia.

The 1993 charter was signed by Russia, Georgia, and other nations formerly in the USSR as an attempt to bring together the nations under the "Commonwealth of Independent States." This commonwealth aimed to provide the states within it a united economy and cooperative security forces. In this charter, it is stated that all signed members must once again be committed to the territorial integrity and inviolability of the borders of other signatories.

Law No. 4730-I of the Russian Federation of the State Border established the laws to regulate, maintain and secure the state borders of Russia. In this law, it is stated that the borders of the Russian Federation are the borders of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. This law also dictated that all treaties signed by the former USSR would remain valid.

Signed on August 24 of 1995, the constitution of Georgia laid out the responsibilities and functions of the Georgian government. Article 2 of the constitution established the territory of the independent state of Georgia the same territory of the Georgian SSR. Stating this within the constitution further delimited the border in within the Georgian viewpoint by emphasizing the integrity of its territory. If the lines remained as they were in the Georgian SSR, there was ultimately no change, reinforcing the idea of legitimacy to these borders.

In July of 1998, the Law on the State Border of Georgia was signed. This law established the border regime of Georgia and mapped out the policies relating to securing, maintaining, and regulating the land borders and territorial waters of Georgia. By establishing regulations of land and bodies of water, we see the role topography has with border determinations. This law also further attempted to delimit the border by defining the state border as the administrative boundary of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic, acknowledging portions of the 1995 constitution. At this point, the border established was considered a soft border as no strong military presence was required from either country.

Today, although the Russian-Georgian relationship appears to be improving, it is not yet stable. Although both Abkhazia and South Ossetia are internationally recognized as Georgian territories, Russia, along with four other UN countries—Russian allies such as Venezuela and Syria—consider them sovereign, independent territories. However, Russian troops remain in these two territories and are continuously pushing the fenced borders to expand their area of control. This ongoing military presence can result in future escalations.

In 2011, Russia and de facto authorities attempted to physically demarcate a boundary between breakaways territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali Region and the rest of Georgia which led to severe restrictions on freedom of movement and other human rights violations. The demarcation of this border was done so by installing barbed wire, fences, digging up ditches, and placing other physical barriers that divided the communities by cutting off villagers from their farmland, water sources, and places of worship. 2011 marked the year that Russia started this borderization process to turn the Administrative Boundary Line from the dotted lines on a map into a physical barrier separating Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali Region on one side and the Georgian-controlled territory on the other.

The Georgian-Russian border presents a very unique case that describes the flexibility in the border-making process. Precedent shows how border-creation follows a linear process: agreement on the linear border by both parties, exact delimitation of the boundary in a treaty/agreement, and the demarcation on the ground with the possibility of securitization. However, the case we describe does not follow this model as there was a period of time between the creation of the Law on the State Border of Georgia in 1998 where the border was solely securitized and not demarcated until 2011. The demarcation of the border led to the legal grounding of the separation of Georgia and Russia. The ongoing treaty process further demonstrates how this border did not follow the linear process because to this day, the border is not fully delimited. Both Georgia and Russia wrote in their own borders and continued to establish them without including the other in the legal process. This lead to securitization and demarcation in an attempt to protect borders that were not agreed upon. This lack of agreement and cohesion can lead to future conflicts, especially with Russian military forces remaining in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Works Cited

Higgins Andrew, “In Russia’s ‘Frozen Zone,’ a Creeping Border With Georgia,” The New York Times, n/a, nytimes.org 

Joyce Stephanie, “Along A Shifting Border, Georgia And Russia Maintain An Uneasy Peace,” npr, March 13, 2017, npr.org

N/a, “Commonwealth of Independent States,” britannica, December 21, 1991, britannica.com

N/a, “Georgia/Russia: Post-conflict boundary splits communities, leaving thousands in limbo,” amnesty, July 3, 2019, amnesty.org. 

Pasha-Robinson, Lucy. “Russia quietly moves border hundreds of yards into occupied Georgia,” independent, July 11, 2017, independent.co.uk.