Zaza Driaev is an Ossetian politician from the partially recognized Caucasian Republic of South Ossetia, which most of the UN recognizes as part of Georgia, occupied by Russia. Driaev is the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Ties, and as such, determines much of the foreign policy of the Republic.
Zaza Driaev | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Parliament of South Ossetia | |
| Assumed office 2019 | |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Political independent |
Biography edit
Diraev was elected to the South Ossetian parliament in the 2019 election as a political independent, however, joined the governmental support of Anatoly Bibilov, despite refusing to join his United Ossetia party.[1]
In 2019 Driaev was among the South Ossetian politicians that called on Georgian officials to take down border checkpoints on the South Ossetian border, namely near the village of Tsnelis going so far as to suggest the South Ossetian KGB dismantle the checkpoints by force. However, despite South Ossetian protests over the border checkpoint supposedly being in South Ossetian territory, the post was well inside the demarcated borders of the 2008 ceasefire, and the post was not removed after an investigation by the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia and the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism.[2][3] In 2020 Driaev caved to protesters in Tskhinval that called for the resignation of the government of Gennady Bekoyev. Driaev announced that he was going to open a parliamentary investigation towards possible censure of the South Ossetian general prosecutor, the cause for the public's dissatisfaction with the government.[4]
Driaev is the co-chairman of the Commission for Cooperation between the Federation Council and the Parliament of the Republic of South Ossetia, as well as the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Policy and Interparliamentary Ties. In these capacities he met with a delegation of Russian politicians, led by Grigory Karasin, that visited South Osseita in 2023 to mark the 15th anniversary of Russia's recognition the of South Ossetia's independence.[5][6]
As Foreign policy chairman, Driaev was tasked with establishing a committee to explore possible Belarusian recognition of South Ossetian independence, after the issue was introduced by Alan Tekhov and approved by Alan Alborov.[7] Additionally, he urged the rest of parliament to follow a Russian Duma decree that the United States must end it's embargo on Cuba, as well as denounce the death of civilians in the Israel–Hamas war.[8]
In November 2023, Driaev, alongside Sarmat Ikoev, went on a state visit to North Ossetia to meet with their parliament over implementing matching laws on "Physical Culture and Sports" in both North and South Ossetia.[9][10]
References edit
- ^ "'United Ossetia' Loses Seats, Keeps Tskhinvali Legislature Majority". Civil Georgia. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Territorial dispute Chorchana-Tsnelisi over old and "fake" maps". eastwatch.eu. 25 August 2019. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "South Ossetia opposes construction of Georgian border checkpoint". Caucasian Knot. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Tskhinvali protesters go home". Caucasian Knot. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Grigory Karasin: Russian and South Ossetian MPs will continue making an important contribution to stronger allied relations between our countries". Federation Council. 28 August 2023. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "A meeting of the Commission on Cooperation between the Russian Federation Council and the Parliament of South Ossetia will be held in Tskhinval". cominf.org. 11 October 2023. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Tskhinvali MPs to Apply to Belarus for Recognition of "Republic"". sakartvelosambebi.ge. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Parliament of South Ossetia supported a number of important appeals of the Russian State Duma". cominf.org. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "Парламентарии из Южной Осетии принимают участие в парламентских слушаниях в Северной Осетии". parliamentrso.org. Retrieved 6 April 2024.
- ^ "Югоосетинские депутаты принимают участие в парламентских слушаниях в Северной Осетии". cominf.org. 17 October 2023. Retrieved 6 April 2024.