Back from reporting in Georgia, stories…

(B2) For a few days, I was able to follow the daily life of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia), both in the field and at headquarters. Narrative…

 

A little tour first EUMM headquarters in Tbilisi. For formal and informal interviews. Here the command room. An old reception room. Vitrified parquet, chandeliers, large windows overlooking a magnificent park and dominating the whole city of Tbilisi, it's a bit "excessive". But somehow handy. Officially it is forbidden to take a photo. A "dumbness" recognize most "operatives". We have nothing to hide. And there is nothing very secret. Let's say that the photo was never taken then... The question of communication is moreover one of the weak points, one of the challenges also, of this mission.

Operational room of the Eumm HQ in Tbilisi © NGV

A short tour then on the ground with patrols. This makes it possible to understand the geography of the country, the difficulties of accessibility of certain points, therefore of strategic control for the forces in presence and observation for the Europeans (Perevi for example, Alkhagori valley, ...). The classic follow-up then of one of the 500 patrols carried out to date by the 200 EU observers. Pictured: two Polish policemen, a French gendarme commanded by a Bulgarian civilian expert (former Minister of Defence). Our "four musketeers" walk up to the Georgian checkpoint near Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) to meet the Georgian "policemen" who guard the "border". On foot, because it's a little light and with military-looking vehicles, it's better to avoid any misunderstanding of the Russians and Ossetians who guard the checkpoint on the other side and can see any arrival with the naked eye... I I will also tell you about visibility issues...

  Our four "musketeers" approaching the Georgian checkpoint © NGV

The situation remains tense. Although the observers have never been intentionally targeted in recent days (they were once caught in an exchange of fire between the two opposing forces), the incidents serious events have multiplied, causing loss of human life in the Georgian ranks. So much so that one can wonder about the logic of this multiplication at the moment when the international negotiations begin... I will give you the few information collected on the last incidents, edifying... The EUMM is redeploying moreover its organization from the beginning, at the approach of winter, in redeveloping its Fields Offices.

A turn then in a small Georgian village north of Gori, a miraculous village, no dead or wounded, and some limited damage. Here the families are mixed Georgians and Ossetians, Belarusians, Armenians... and live in harmony with each other. Even after what happened. This mix is ​​not exceptional in these villages. Their secret hope that the border will reopen, so that they can return to their favorite market, located on the other side in South Ossetia. But on both sides, we seem more inclined to harden the border than to reopen it. I will tell you more...

lhe three generations - Georgians and Ossetians mixed - in this village north of Gori © NGV

Finally some "Georgian impressions" on the country's membership of NATO and the human rights situation not excellent in Georgia, the desire for revenge still present at the level of political leaders which seems dangerous for the future, responsibility in the conflict, serial provocations, respective isolation and even ethnic cleansing (the word was mentioned several times by the European experts present in the area), the economic situation of a developing country and the two "independent" provinces ...

Read the rest of this report:

• 1. Palpable tension, repeated incidents
• 2. Kitsnisi, a miraculous little village
• 3. Provocations, responsibility and purification…
• 4. The future is more neutrality than NATO?
• 5. At EUMM Headquarters
• 6. The winter will be harsh, the crisis to come
• 7. On the road with an EUMM patrol
• 8. The main challenges of the EUMM mission
• 9. Interview with Gilles Janvier, deputy director of the mission

(NGV)

With my thanks to all those who helped me, guided me, informed me during this trip.