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EU Monitoring Mission observers enter Georgia
By Denise Hammick
06 October 2008
The EU's Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia became operational on 1 October, with the first observers entering the buffer zone around South Ossetia to monitor the ceasefire between Russia and Georgia.
Following the agreement drawn up between the president of the EU, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on 8 September, more than 200 observers have entered the area to oversee the withdrawal of Russian forces from Georgian territory.
Moscow has agreed to withdraw its forces by 10 October, although it has said it will maintain almost 8,000 troops in the separatist regions of South Ossetia and
Abkhazia, which it has recognised as independent.
The EU wants its observers to have access to the breakaway regions, but Russia has repeatedly refused to guarantee that. Discussions about the future of the two territories will begin in Geneva, Switzerland, on 15 October.
The main tasks of the EUMM mission, which has a budget of EUR35 million (USD49 million), include stabilisation and monitoring of the peace and the ceasefire agreement as well as normalisation and confidence-building measures.
Image: Javier Solana inaugurated the European Union ceasefire monitors in Tbilisi (European Union)