Brussels, 26/08/2008 (Agence Europe) - Meeting on Tuesday 26 August, the Political and Security Committee (COPS) was unable to reach an overall agreement on sending an EU military mission to Georgia. At this stage, some member states remain reluctant to despatch such a force. The 27 representatives at COPS were nonetheless unanimous about the need to step up the EU's role on the ground by reinforcing the team of the EU Special Representative for Georgia (from 6 to 8 additional members) and by sending a surveillance mission within the ESDP (European Security and Defence Policy) framework, which will support the United Nations and OSCE personnel already on the ground or about to go there (EUROPE 9723). An exploratory mission, which is already on the spot, must however determine in advance where and when such a surveillance mission, similar to that sent to Aceh last September (EUROPE 9026), will be deployed.
On Tuesday afternoon, the COPS was meeting again to prepare the EU's response to the declaration of recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia decided earlier in the day by Russian President Dimitri Medvedev. In a speech, Mr Medvedev stated he had signed two motions voted the day before by the Russian parliament, inviting him to recognise the independence of the two breakaway republics. His call on the international community to follow the Russian example was not followed up, however. On the contrary, France, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, Estonia and Germany among others immediately condemned the Russian president's decision. These countries were unhappy with what they called a “regrettable” decision.
The day before, the Georgian ambassador to the EU, Ms Salome Samadashvili, had pointed out that Russian recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia would be a “slap in the face for Europe and for the rest of the world”. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Georgian delegation with NATO added that the Russian approach was “purely and simply in breach of the agreement for peace and territorial integrity of Georgia”.
On Monday, Ambassador Samadashvili had also expressed the hope of seeing a “full-fledged European presence on the ground”, as quickly as possible. “The EU is the only player in the international arena which has the tools at its disposal for deploying the monitoring mission on the ground which cannot be objected to by the Russian Federation”, she had stressed when speaking to journalists. Given the inevitable time needed for setting such a mission in place, Ms Samadashvili spoke of the possibility of giving EU agents already on the spot a mandate for monitoring respect of the ceasefire. This is all the more urgent, she said, as the OSCE mission may find it impossible to gain access to the regions directly affected by the conflict.
Generally speaking, the European Union should also show proof of greater political will towards Russia and not be as “shy” as it is at present. The member states should not be discouraged by Europe's energy dependency on Russia, she stressed. Although Europe needs Russian gas, Russia, for its part, would find it difficult to do without the money that it receives in exchange for its oil, she stressed. (A.By./C.D./transl.jl).