Georgian president: Russia to expand authority over region of South Ossetia

President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, left, is welcomed by his Polish counterpart Bronislaw Komorowski in front of the press in the Belweder Palace in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. Margvelashvili came to Poland for a working visit. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (The Associated Press)

Polish Bronislaw Komorowski, right, and his assistant, far left, show the way to President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili before talks in the Belweder Palace in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. Margvelashvili came to Poland for a working visit. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (The Associated Press)

President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, left, and his Polish counterpart Bronislaw Komorowski shake hands in front of the press prior to talks in the Belweder Palace in Warsaw, Poland, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. Margvelashvili came to Poland for a working visit. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (The Associated Press)

The Georgian president says that Russia, after recently expanding its authority over the breakaway region of Abkhazia, now plans a similar move in South Ossetia.

Russia routed Georgia in a five-day war in 2008 fought over the two regions, and has since recognized both as independent states. Last month Moscow signed a pact with Abkhazia tightening the Kremlin's control over the region's military and economic affairs.

President Giorgi Margvelashvili said Friday that he received information from officials in South Ossetia earlier in the day that a similar deal will be signed there.

He called it an "unfortunate step that is planned against the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia."

Margvelashvili was delivering a lecture at the Polish Institute of International Affairs, a leading Polish think tank.