MOSCOW, May 15 (RIA Novosti) - The German Embassy in
Moscow has issued a visa to a seriously ill Abkhazian teenager
who has to undergo an urgent medical procedure in a German
clinic, a spokesman said on Friday.
The German Embassy in Moscow had earlier denied a visa to
the 16-year-old, whose name has not been disclosed.
"Yesterday [Thursday] the teenager's family submitted an
application for a visa and received one immediately," the
embassy spokesman said. "There were no problems."
He said diplomats had to coordinate with their colleagues
in Tbilisi, who as a rule issue visas to the residents of the
former Georgian republic.
"The coordination needed to avoid any cheating," the
spokesman said.
Russia recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia as
independent states after the five-day war with Georgia, which
attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under
central control. Most residents of both Abkhazia and South
Ossetia had held Russian citizenship for several years.
Nicaragua is the only other country to have officially
recognized the republics' independence.
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