Brussels, 31/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - Following the agreement of the Political and Security Committee (COPS), the European Union's High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, has decided to send ten additional monitors to Macedonia, taking the number of EU monitors in the country to 29. This deployment comes within the framework of the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) that currently comprises 110 people in the region of the Balkans. An agreement between the EU and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) relating to EUMM activities in the country took effect on 31 August. "The EU will remain fully committed to ensuring that the prospects for stability that now exist are fully exploited", declared Solana, adding: "The activities of the mission will be to support implementation of the framework-agreement signed in Skopje on 13 August. In co-operation with other representatives of the international community, the monitoring activities of the EUMM will focus mainly on aspects such as the return of refugees, re-opening schools and house repairs. I am also looking at the possibility of re-deploying additional monitors later". A second group of ten additional observers should be sent to Macedonia in September, said Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel, when speaking at the EP on Tuesday.