Georgia To Provide Separatist Regions' Residents With Free Education

Georgia's Ministry of Education has announced that it's ready to provide free university education to all residents of Georgia's two separatist regions who have obtained "status-neutral" documents.

Georgia launched the status-neutral internal and travel documents for the residents of Abkhazia and South Ossetia earlier this year, in accordance with the state strategy on what it calls its "occupied territories."

Separatist officials of the two breakaway regions condemned Georgia's new " status-neutral " documents after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Tbilisi recently that U.S. authorities would recognize the new documents.

Russia recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia after fighting a brief war with Georgia in 2008.

Most of the rest of the world continues to view the regions as part of Georgia.

Based on reporting by Interfax and Gruziya online