Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said it would be “wise” for Georgia to recognize Abkhazia as an independent country.

“It’s clear Abkhazia can’t be a normal region of Georgia any longer,” Shevardnadze said in an interview published in the Asaval-Dasavali newspaper. Recognizing the region would improve relations between Georgians and Abkhazians, he added, the newspaper said.

Shevardnadze was responding to comments by Mamuka Areshidze, an analyst at the Caucasus Strategic Research Center, who said two weeks ago that Georgia should consider recognizing Akhazia’s independence, Asaval-Dasavali reported.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia, declared independence after a five-day war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008. Only Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and the South Pacific nation of Nauru recognize their independence. Georgia maintains Russia occupied the two regions after the conflict, Bloomberg reported.