Boris Grizlov, the Chairman of the Russian Duma Council, lower house of the Parliament, said on September 12 that Russian parliamentarians will arrive in breakaway South Ossetia to observe an independence referendum scheduled for November 12.

Presidential elections in the unrecognized republic are also scheduled for this date.

Grizlov said that the Georgian authorities’ policy towards the breakaway region “is forcing South Ossetia to hold the referendum,” according to the RIA Novosti news agency.

“This is the right of the South Ossetian population and if they want to hold such a referendum, they will do it,” Grizlov said.

A similar referendum is also scheduled in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transdnestria. Grizlov said that the Russian Duma Council will also send observers to monitor the Transdnestrian polls.