E.U. Deploys Monitors in Georgia

[Mesteryo]

Source: NY Times

The European Union on Wednesday began deploying 200 civilian monitors across parts of Georgia, witnesses and officials said, despite earlier threats by the Russian military to bar them from buffer zones surrounding the separatist enclaves of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

A European Union official said that the unarmed monitors had been allowed through Russian checkpoints at several places to enter the buffer zone. The official spoke in return for anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.

Under a ceasefire agreement brokered by France, European monitors expect to replace Russian peacekeeping units that have set up command posts in the buffer zones, while Russian forces are supposed to withdraw fully to South Ossetia and Abkhazia by Oct. 10.


Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, said at a news conference earlier in the week that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the monitoring mission, though he continued to press for a complete Russian withdrawal.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/world/europe/02georgia.html?ref=world

[Newsjock]

1. Now we just need them in Ohio

and Florida.