Minister for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia

The office of Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia was created on 17 May 1993, during the 1992-1993 war with Georgia.[1] Due to the diplomatic isolation of Abkhazia, which remains widely unrecognised, the role of the foreign minister has been restricted mostly to negotiations over resolving the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict. Empirical data nevertheless show that Abkhazia's Foreign Ministry also enacts (mostly low-level) diplomatic relations, such as the sending of diplomatic notes,[2] with various countries across the world, including Nauru, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Syria. It is also active in managing relations with other post-Soviet de facto states such as South Ossetia, Transnistria, or Lugansk People's Republic.[3]

Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Abkhazia
Incumbent Daur Kove since 4 October 2016
Appointer	President of Abkhazia
Term length	no limit
Inaugural holder	Daur Kove
Formation	17 May 1993

History

Government of President Ardzinba

On 30 April 1997, former Aidgylara Chairman Sergei Shamba was appointed Foreign Minister instead of Konstantin Ozgan, who had been appointed First Vice Premier, succeeding Sergei Bagapsh, who had been appointed Prime Minister on 29 April.[4][5]

Shamba remained Foreign Minister until he resigned on 15 June 2004 along with First Vice Premier Astamur Tarba (who eventually stayed on) and Security Service Chairman Givi Agrba following the murder of opposition politician Garri Aiba.[6][7] Shamba was temporarily replaced by his deputy Gueorgui Otyrba on 18 July, and permanently by Abkhazia's representative in Moscow Igor Akhba on 28 July.[1][8] On 14 December 2004, following the Tangerine Revolution but while Vladislav Ardzinba was still President, he re-arranged the cabinet. Sergei Shamba was re-appointed Minister for Foreign Affairs and additionally became Vice-Premier.[9][10]

Government of President Bagapsh

After the election of Sergei Bagapsh as President, Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba was one of the few Ministers to be re-appointed, on 26 March 2005.[11]

Following the re-election of Bagapsh, Shamba was appointed Prime Minister (as outgoing Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab had been elected Vice President), he was succeeded by his deputy Maxim Gvinjia on 26 February.[12]

Government of President Ankvab

After the election of Alexander Ankvab, he appointed diplomat and academic Viacheslav Chirikba as Foreign Minister On 11 October.[13]

Government of President Khajimba

Chirikba was only one of three Cabinet members to be re-appointed in the cabinet of Prime Minister Beslan Butba following the May 2014 Revolution and the subsequent election of Raul Khajimba as President.[14]

Chirikba was again re-appointed under Prime Minister Artur Mikvabia, but on 20 September 2016, after the appointment of Beslan Bartsits as Prime Minister, he released a statement in which he announced his resignation because he was unable to continue in his post under the current circumstances.[15] The Presidential press service responded by claiming that Chirikba had not been re-appointed because he had failed to lead a delegation to Transnistria in early September.[16] Chirikba refuted this in another statement in which he explained that he had not been able to lead the delegation due to an attack of hypertension and claimed that the decision to re-appoint him had already been made at that point and that he had originally submitted his resignation on 31 August after Khajimba had for more than a month refused to meet him to discuss foreign affairs. In a press conference one week later, Khajimba specified that Chirikba had not been active enough as Foreign Minister and that as head of the Ministry, he had to be held responsible for certain financial irregularities that had been uncovered by the Control Chamber.[17] On 4 October Chirikba's successor Daur Kove was appointed.[18] In the intervening period, Deputy Minister Oleg Arshba had served as acting Minister.[19]

List of people to hold the office

No.	Portrait	Name (Born-Died)	Term			Government	Ref.
			Took office	Left office	Duration
–		Vladimir Arshba (born 1951) Acting	17 May 1993	23 September 1993	129 days	–	[1]
1		Sokrat Jinjolia (born 1937)	23 September 1993	26 November 1994	1 year, 64 days	–	[1]
2		Leonid Lakerbaia (born 1947)	29 June 1995	31 July 1996	1 year, 32 days	Ardzinba	[1]
3		Konstantin Ozgan (1939–2016)	31 July 1996	30 April 1997	273 days	Ardzinba	[1]
4		Sergei Shamba (born 1951)	30 April 1997	18 June 2004	7 years, 49 days	Ardzinba	[4]
–		Gueorgui Otyrba Acting	18 June 2004	28 July 2004	40 days	Ardzinba	[1]
5		Igor Akhba (born 1949)	28 July 2004	14 December 2004	139 days	Ardzinba	[8]
(4)		Sergei Shamba (born 1951)	14 December 2004	26 February 2010	5 years, 74 days	Ardzinba Bagapsh	[9][20][11]
6		Maxim Gvinjia (born 1976)	26 February 2010	11 October 2011	1 year, 227 days	Bagapsh	[12]
7		Viacheslav Chirikba (born 1959)	11 October 2011	20 September 2016	4 years, 345 days	Ankvab Khajimba	[13][14][15]
–		Oleg Arshba (born 1959) Acting	20 September 2016	4 October 2016	14 days	Khajimba	[19]
8		Daur Kove (born 1979)	4 October 2016	Incumbent	4 years, 123 days	Khajimba	[18]

References

1. "Предыдущие Министры и их Заместители". 2008. Archived from the original on 12 September 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2009.
2. Pacher, Andreas (2019). "The diplomacy of post-Soviet de facto states: Ontological security under stigma". International Relations: 004711781985639. doi:10.1177/0047117819856397. ISSN 0047-1178.
3. Comai, Giorgio (2017). "Quantitative Analysis of Web Content in Support of Qualitative Research. Examples from the Study of Post-Soviet De Facto States". Studies of Transition States and Societies. 9 (1): 14–34. ISSN 1736-8758.
4. The Jamestown Foundation (2 May 1997). "KEY ABKHAZ OFFICES CHANGE HANDS". Monitor. 3 (87). Retrieved 10 January 2012.
5. "НЕГА сообщает Россия". Nezavisimaya Gazeta. 30 April 1997. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
6. "Key Ministers in de facto Abkhaz Government Resign". Civil Georgia. 15 June 2004. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
7. Kuchuberia, Anzhela (17 June 2004). Премьер-министр Абхазии Рауль Хаджимба опроверг сообщения об отставке ряда высокопоставленных лиц правительства. Caucasian Knot (in Russian). Retrieved 15 April 2011.
8. "Ахба Игорь Муратович". Retrieved 13 December 2008.
9. В Абхазии назначены два вице-премьера правительства. Caucasian Knot (in Russian). 14 December 2004. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
10. В Абхазии утверждена структура Кабинета министров. Caucasian Knot (in Russian). 15 December 2005. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
11. "Указ Президента Абхазии №44 от 21.03.2005". Администрация Президента Республики Абхазия. 21 March 2005. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
12. "New Abkhaz FM Appointed". Civil Georgia. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2010.
13. "Президент Александр Анкваб подписал указы о назначении министров". Apsnypress. 11 October 2011. Archived from the original on 28 November 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2011.
14. "Указами президента назначены министры иностранных дел, юстиции, по чрезвычайным ситуациям и финансов". Apsnypress. 17 October 2014. Archived from the original on 30 November 2014. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
15. Chirikba, Viacheslav (20 September 2016). "Заявление и.о. Министра иностранных дел Республики Абхазия Вячеслава Чирикба". Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Abkhazia. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
16. ""ГЛАВНОЙ ПРИЧИНОЙ НЕ ПЕРЕНАЗНАЧЕНИЯ МИНИСТРА ИНОСТРАННЫХ ДЕЛ ВЯЧЕСЛАВА ЧИРИКБА ЯВЛЯЕТСЯ ЕГО ОТКАЗ ВОЗГЛАВИТЬ АБХАЗСКУЮ ДЕЛЕГАЦИЮ В ПОЕЗДКЕ В ПМР", - ПРЕСС-СЛУЖБА ПРЕЗИДЕНТА АБХАЗИИ". Abkhazia Inform. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
17. Sharia, Vitali (27 September 2016). "Рауль Хаджимба: "Я покину президентский пост в октябре, но 2019 года"". Echo of the Caucasus. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
18. "Даур Кове назначен министром иностранных дел Абхазии". Apsnypress. 4 October 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
19. "Между Абхазией и Науру подписан Договор о дружбе и сотрудничестве". Apsnypress. 29 September 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
20. "Указ Президента Абхазии №1 от 14.02.2005". Администрация Президента Республики Абхазия. 14 February 2005. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 17 December 2008.