President of South Ossetia Anatoly Bibilov considers the separation of the Ossetian people the important problem that needs to be solved. The South Ossetian leader stated this on Sunday in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
"The Five Steps to Russia program, which we announced earlier, is needed to create conditions for South Ossetia to become part of Russia. This is not my whim; this is the desire of our people since the 20s of the last century. Ossetians - "are the divided nation, and this division must be eliminated. Many people say that South Ossetia should be independent, but more important than independence is the unity of the ethnic group, one nation with common traditions, customs, language," Bibilov said.
He has reminded that South Ossetia did not independently secede from the then Russian Empire, and in the 90s of the last century, 99.9% of the population of the Republic voted in the referendum to remain part of the Soviet Union. "The same number of people voted to become part of the Russian Federation - this is the desire and the will of the people, and we will take the steps that will allow us to resolve this issue," he has stressed.
According to Bibilov, the leadership of the republic is currently striving to develop integration processes with the Russian Federation - this includes signing agreements, including in the field of cartography, integration of customs authorities, raising salaries for state employees and others.
