EU/Georgia

Ceasefire monitors enter buffer zone

Article published on the 2008-10-01 Latest update 2008-10-01 11:12 TU

EU monitors at Tbilisi Airport
(Credit: Reuters)

European Union ceasefire monitors entered the buffer zone of Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia on Wednesday after ten minutes of discussions with Russian soldiers at a checkpoint. The observers are in Georgia to oversee a Russian troop pullout after the August crisis between the two countries.

Monitors in four armoured vehicles with EU flags left Bazaleti, near the Georgian capital Tbilisi to start their patrols, according to French news agency AFP.

Other patrols, most carrying French gendarmes, left to patrol Gori, while the western cities of Poti and Zugdidi were also patrolled by EU observers.

Some 40 unarmed monitors will be on the ground at any one time, according to officials. The EU Monitoring Mission, comprising 200 people, aims to stabilise the region and make sure the two countries comply with the EU-brokered peace plan.

EU foreign policy head Javier Solana said from Tbilisi on Tuesday that he expected the Russian forces to withdraw by the 10 October  deadline which Moscow has agreed to.

United Nations human rights envoy Walter Kaelin is currently in the country to assess the situation of internally displaced people.

In related news, a Russian drone crashed in Georgia near the South Ossetia buffer zone, Georgia's Interior Ministry said Wednesday.