EUMM mission head: Security situation in Georgia relatively stable but fragile

Head of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia, Kestutis Jankauskas, has informed 57 member states of the Organisation for  Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) about the current security situation in Georgia and the ongoing challenges that arise from the country having two occupied regions. 

Today Jankauskas addressed the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation (FSC) Security Dialogue, where he said the security situation remained "relatively stable in Georgia but fragile and not free from challenges.” 

He provided examples of daily EUMM activities and how the Mission contributed to maintaining stability and security on the ground, as the EUMM was the only international mission in Georgia monitoring the situation near but not in the two occupied regions of Georgia - Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). 

The head of Mission underlined that the EUMM having access to Abkhazia and Tskhinvali would benefit everybody as the Mission provided an impartial and factual picture on many issues. 

The large number of OSCE delegations at the meeting thanked Jankauskas and the EUMM for its important and work, which Jankauskas attributed to teamwork by all international monitors and national staff.  

Georgia’s breakaway regions are currently occupied by Russia, which continually commits a range of violations on Georgian soil with the de facto  regions’ representatives, from kidnapping of Georgian citizens to depriving the Georgian population living in the occupied areas of receiving an education in their mother language.