At one time, the same leaders in Europe gave Abkhazia legitimacy (4)

I believe the answer is:

egal

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'at one time the same' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'leaders in europe gave abkhazia legitimacy' is the wordplay.
'leaders in' suggests taking the first letters.
The first letters of 'europe gave abkhazia legitimacy' is 'EGAL'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for egal that I've seen before include "Of the same value to Shakespearean" , "fit" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.

Connecting...