EU greenlights Georgia observers as criticism of mission mounts
The European Union gave the green light Monday for a 200-strong observer mission for Georgia, amid rising criticism that they will not be able to deploy to rebel Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, adopted a "joint action" and "operation concept" allowing the monitors to deploy into Georgia and areas up to the two breakaway regions.
As they met, the European Commission announced 500 million euros (712 million dollars) in aid to help Georgia rebuild following its conflict with Russia.
The observers are expected to be on the ground by October 1, paving the way for Russian troops to withdraw by October 10 to positions they held before striking at Georgia early last month.
France, Germany and Italy will be among the biggest contributors to the team, which will include police, justice, military and human rights experts. Few of them are expected to be armed.
The thorniest issue remains whether it will ever be able to deploy to the rebel regions. Georgia's attack early last month aimed at retaking South Ossetia sparked the military riposte from Russia.
Russia has since recognised both breakaway regions as independent -- only Nicaragua has followed suit -- and plans to keep troops there even after it withdraws from Georgia proper.
The EU wants to send observers into the breakaway regions but must first see "how things evolve on the ground," the bloc's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said as he arrived.
The European Union's first commitment "is to deploy, at the beginning of October, 200 observers to obtain the Russian troops' withdrawal," said Solana.
"After that we'll see how things evolve. We are ready and disposed to go beyond these commitments and to other places," he added.
A senior French diplomat said Friday that the EU hopes the issue of broader access to Abkhazia and South Ossetia would be resolved at international negotiations on their future security in Geneva on October 15.
In an interview published Monday, Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer complained that the EU-brokered ceasefire that ended the fighting in Georgia was "difficult to swallow" because it made too many concessions to Moscow.
He also rejected Russia's plans to keep thousands of troops in the two breakaway regions.
"Let me say that that is difficult to swallow," he told the Financial Times business daily, adding that the beefed-up Russian military presence contravened an agreed six-point plan which called for both sides to revert to the status quo.
"If the Russians are staying in South Ossetia with so many forces, I do not consider this as a return to the status quo," he said. "The option of keeping Russian forces in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is not acceptable."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday he would sign agreements this week establishing diplomatic relations with South Ossetia and Abkhazia and containing a "military component".
On Saturday, criticism grew within the EU ranks, with Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht saying it might be better waiting until the security status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia becomes clearer.
"I would be more in favour of us holding off on our participation ... for six months," he told La Libre Belgique newspaper, adding that it was important to "know first where they are going to deploy".
"If the Europeans cannot deploy in the security zone ... we are going to be obliged to protect borders that we have not recognised," he said, because EU nations refuse to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia's independence.
As he arrived for the meeting, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini insisted that the mission should be able to deploy everywhere in Georgia, but he also acknowledged that all parties must agree to this.
The peace accord "must be fully applied with the maximum of ambition possible ... but we cannot become an occupying force," he said.
The EU's 500 million euros in aid, meanwhile, will cover the 2008-2010 period, and help with rebuilding, resettling displaced people and revitalising the economy.
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