15 September 2008, 12:33
EU sends 200 observers to Georgia
Today, the EU Council has made an official decision to send a mission of 200 European observers to Georgia. It is planned to place them in the buffer zone adjacent from the Georgian side to the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili said at a joint press conference with President of France Nicolas Sarkozy held in Tbilisi at night of September 9 that the European observers will gradually replace Russian peacekeepers, including in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. On that very day, Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said that it would not be the case.
According to the additional points to the peaceful plan, coordinated by Presidents of Russia and France on September 8, the European observers should be deployed in Georgia by October 1, which will allow Russia to withdraw its peacekeepers out of this zone by October 10.
The ITAR-TASS reports that the today's decision of the EU Council is a confirmation of political arrangements to launch a mission of European civil observers reached at the informal meeting of EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Avignon on September 6.
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