Will the EUMM Georgia mission be commanded by a Bulgarian?

(B2) In any case, among the various candidacies received by Javier Solana (French, German, Lithuanian), to lead the mission of European Union observers in Georgia, the Bulgarian candidacy has a lot of chances on its side. The 27 Foreign Ministers are due to discuss this Monday, September 15.

A high-ranking diplomat, Vladimir Sotirov has a good political and linguistic knowledge of the region. He headed the UN peacekeeping mission in Tajikistan (UNTOP) until the end of July 2007 (he closed the mission). The political position of Bulgaria, open to dialogue - one of the first countries to have suggested an international conference, to have offered its ports for
humanitarian aid to Georgia but which has always refused to use harsh language with Moscow - is a serious asset.

If this news is confirmed, it is interesting because it would be the first European Defense mission to be headed by a national of a new Member State, which is moreover one of the newcomers (since Bulgaria is not member of the EU only since 2007). It would also be quite logical. This country being one of the closest - with Romania - to the conflict zone and one of the
more interested in settling the dispute.

It remains to name the special representative in the Caucasus: until recently, we were talking about a high-level figure, such as the Bulgarian Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs - present from the start of the crisis, alongside Bernard Kouchner - or of Joshka Fisher, the former German Foreign Minister. This last track seems to be attractive. But it would mean the presence in Georgia of representatives of more "flexible" countries with Moscow (not counting Finland which is currently chairing the OSCE mission before giving way to Greece). It will therefore be necessary to see who will be named to number(s) 2. To balance the deal, it would be logical to designate either a citizen of a country on the middle line (such as a Frenchman), or a citizen of a harder line countries.

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Photo: David Swanson/IRIN