EU observation mission should be extended

(B2)Halfway through the term of the European Union Observation Mission (EUMM), the head of the mission, the German Hansjörg Haber, gave a first report to some journalists in Brussels on March 12. This mission should normally end on June 15. And the question of its renewal is therefore now posed. Discussion which involves the EU as well as the States which signed, in the summer of 2008, the six-point agreement suspending hostilities.
For Hansjörg Haber, one of the problems with the end of the EU mandate is undoubtedly the different visions that Russians and Ossetians have of the missions to come. For the head of the mission, as things stand, " the only currently stable mandate is ours. According to him, the most feasible options are an extension of six or twelve months. He recalled that this  still had to be decided. (…). Since February - he added -, a "  reconfiguration process " has been set up. The EUMM concentrates its efforts on certain thematic issues, such as issues of ethnic mixing and respect for minorities in Georgia. Three teams, made up of 20 people each, are involved: human rights, police services and humanitarian affairs.
In Prague, Javier Solana, the High Representative for the common foreign and security policy, underlined before the informal meeting of the Ministers of Defense of the 27, how much this mission is “an essential part in supporting the negotiation process in Geneva (between Russians and Georgians). We must continue our active engagement while affirming the principle of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, to which the EU is strongly attached” (*).

(*) We have made a difference there and EUMM has been an essential component supporting the Geneva negotiation process. We need to continue our active engagement, whilst upholding the principle of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, to which the EU is strongly committed.

(NGV)