Brussels, 20/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - Following the firing of a missile that fell, without exploding, on 6 August in Georgian territory (which Tbilisi immediately attributed to Moscow), the presidency of the European Union expressed “its deep concern” in a declaration made on 10 August. It also called for the different parties to “refrain from any action that could lead to an escalation”. Pointing out the principle of respect for the territorial integrity of Georgia, the presidency underlined on behalf of the EU that, “they needed to rapidly carry out a complete and independent enquiry in order to clarify and verify the circumstances surrounding this incident”. Since then, a group of US, Swedish, Latvian and Lithuanian experts, as well as Tbilisi, have also called for an enquiry. The group concluded that the missile had been dropped by a plane from Russia. A group of Russian experts speaking from the Georgian capital on Friday denied this allegation. The enquiry requested by Georgia will be based on accounts from witnesses, radar data and a report from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that has not yet been published but which Tbilisi has said it will draw upon to support its position against Russia. The OSCE mission in Georgia has until now refused to comment on its report, which is supposed to remain confidential. (ol)