EUMM video: People feel safer when EU monitors patrol near ABL
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A new video filmed near one of two Russian-occupied regions of Georgia shows people feel safer when European monitors patrol the area.
The European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) distributed a video about the work of its monitors and their engagement with the population residing close to the Administrative Border Line (ABL) between Georgia and Tskhinvali region (South Ossetia).
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The video featured one local resident describing what it was like to live with her home surrounded by Russian, Ossetian and Georgian guards from all sides.
She said it was hard to live in such a tense environment but it was harder to leave her native home.
Everyday about 200 EU monitors patrol the areas near the ABL. Local inhabitants said people felt safer when the EUMM envoys patrolled their area.
The EUMM is an unarmed civilian monitoring mission. It deploys over 200 civilian monitors that contribute to the stabilisation of the situation on the ground following the Russia-Georgia conflict in August 2008.
The EUMM mission in Georgia helps reduce tension in the area through liaison, facilitation of contacts between parties and other confidence-building measures.
The mission started its monitoring activities on October 1 2008, beginning with oversight of the withdrawal of Russian armed forces from the areas adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
In December 2014 the EUMM mandate was extended for a further two years until December 14, 2016.
Kestutis Jankauskas has been appointed as a new Head of Mission for the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia).
For the first time since 2011, head of the EUMM in Georgia, Kęstutis Jankauskas, visited Moscow on September 15-16 and held meetings with Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and chief of the Border Security Directorate of the Russian FSB Border Service Nikolay Kozik.
In the past month 10 Georgian citizens have been illegally detained near the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) dividing breakaway Tskinvali region (South Ossetia) from the rest of Georgia.
Georgian farmers whose lands fell behind the occupation line after Russia advanced 2km into Georgian territory earlier this month, will be able to freely access their harvest.
The European Council has extended the mandate of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia) by two years, until December 14, 2016.