MOSCOW — Voters in Abkhazia, the separatist enclave in Georgia, have re-elected President Sergei V. Bagapsh by a decisive margin, amid protests from the Georgian government that the vote was invalid.
In final results of the Saturday vote announced on Sunday, Mr. Bagapsh won 59.4 percent of the vote, more than he needed to avoid a second round of voting.
His closest rival among four other candidates, Raul Khajimba, a former agent in the Russian F.S.B. security service, trailed with 15.4 percent. Turnout was 73 percent, election officials said.
Mr. Khajimba alleged widespread violations and vowed to challenge the results in court.
Mr. Bagapsh, a former energy tycoon, spent most of his first five-year term fighting to separate Abkhazia from Georgia. In August 2008, when Russia recognized Abkhazia as a sovereign nation, his focus swung to a different challenge: Negotiating its long-term relationship with Russia.[...] Sunday, Mr. Bagapsh said that his victory reflected a widespread desire to strengthen ties to Russia, and that recognition from the West was not so important.
“We have chosen our path, whether the European Union and United States like it or not,” he said. “Abkhazia will never again be part of Georgia.”[...]