EU monitors start patrols of Georgian territory

Georgian president tells Solana he won't "be happy until the last Russian soldier gets out of my country."

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
solana 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
solana 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
European Union monitors on Wednesday began their patrols of Georgian territory under a French-brokered peace deal, facing a feisty Russian military that seemed reluctant to retreat. The Russian peacekeeping forces said a day earlier they will not immediately allow any of the 300 EU monitors to enter a buffer zone surrounding the separatist South Ossetia region. Moscow appears to be stalling on compliance with a cease-fire agreement reached after the August war with Georgia. "Show the flag, be friendly, show confidence," EU mission head Hansjoerg Haber told monitors in an area near Lake Basaleti, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) north of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. Russia and Georgia agreed to the EU observer mission as part of an updated cease-fire plan following the war, which ended with Russian and separatist forces in control of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russian troops also remained deep inside Georgia for weeks. As part of the deal, Moscow agreed to withdraw its forces completely from territories outside of South Ossetia and Abkhazia within 10 days of the EU monitors' deployment on Wednesday - including from a roughly 4-mile (7-kilometer) buffer zone extending southward from South Ossetia's edge. But the Russian peacekeeping forces' statement said that as of Wednesday, the EU monitoring will take place "up to the southern border of the security zone, which was agreed upon by the parties." The statement said there would be further consultations but gave no indication of when - or even if - Russia would grant the EU monitors access to the zone itself. In the central city of Gori, another group of EU monitors also boarded their light armored vehicles to head toward the buffer zone outside South Ossetia early Wednesday. One of the observers, Adam Glinsky, a 43-year old policeman from the Polish capital, Warsaw, voiced confidence that Russia would eventually allow the EU monitors to enter the buffer zone. "It's only yesterday's opinion, hopefully tomorrow it will be different," he said. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Georgia Tuesday, on the eve of the deployment of about 300 monitors. He did not directly answer questions about the Russian move, but he expressed optimism that Moscow would pull its troops back from the security zone in the promised time frame. "I am optimistic that all parties will comply with the agreement that was signed," Solana said. "We hope very much and we are sure that before Oct. 10 that part of the mission will be completed." Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili also skirted questions about EU access. He stressed that Georgia wants a complete Russian withdrawal. "We will not be happy until the last Russian soldier gets out of my country," he told a news conference with Solana. The EU observers will be based in four semi-permanent locations, including Gori _ near South Ossetia - and the Black Sea port of Poti, key targets of Russian forces. The war began on Aug. 7 when Georgian troops launched an offensive to regain control of South Ossetia. Russia sent troops, which quickly routed the Georgian military and pushed deep into Georgia. Russia's military action and its subsequent recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has drawn strong condemnation from the West, which urged Moscow to respect Georgia's sovereignty. Russia still plans to keep around 7,600 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and it has refused to allow EU monitors inside the regions themselves.