More than 300 European Union observers are
already in Georgia and ready to begin monitoring the "swift
withdrawal" of Russian forces, EU officials said Monday.
"We are extremely pleased with the response from member states and with
the preparations" leading up to the launch of the mission, said Cristina
Gallach, spokeswoman of EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, dpa reported.
"We want to monitor the swift withdrawal of the Russian troops from
where they are now" and ensure that the Georgian police is allowed back
into Georgian villages, Gallach added.
Solana himself was due to visit Tbilisi on Tuesday, a day before the mission is
officially due to start. While in the Georgian capital, Solana was due to hold
talks with President Mikhail Saakashivili and the country's foreign and
interior ministers.
He was also due to meet the head of the EU mission, German ambassador Hansjorg
Haber, and visit a camp hosting Georgians refugees.
The monitoring mission that officially starts on Wednesday was agreed by EU
leaders and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a September 8 meeting in
Moscow.
On top of ensuring that Russian troops return to the positions they held prior
to the August conflict, as promised, by October 10, EU staff will also help
monitor a buffer zone in Georgia adjacent to the two rebel provinces of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia, in which some 7,600 Russian troops are now based.
Russia had initially asked for at least 200 monitors, but the EU mission will
ultimately consist of some 350 staffers from 22 member states, with Germany,
France, Italy, Poland and Sweden providing the biggest contingents.
The EU mission has a one-year mandate and is headquartered in Tbilisi. It also
has strong presences in a number of towns, among them Poti and Gori.
But Gallach said Monday that
it was still unclear whether it would be further
extended to Georgia's two breakaway regions, as originally intended by the EU.
"Now our main responsibility is to ensure that all these guys and girls
are ready for October 1," Gallach said, noting that any future deployment
would be addressed by diplomats in the coming weeks.
Since the end of the conflict, Russia has recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia
as independent states and insists that any EU presence there would first have
to be negotiated with the local authorities.
The EU opposes any break-up of Georgia and has urged other nations not to
follow Russia's lead.
The broader issue of Georgia's long-term security is to be addressed during a
peace conference scheduled for October 15 in Geneva.
The conference was originally meant to be attended by EU heads of state and
government, but it has since been scaled down to the level of diplomats and
experts.
However, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Solana and other leading EU
figures may yet decide to attend the talks in some form or other a day before
their official launch, diplomats said.