The President of Georgia welcomes the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission, Ambassador Marek Szczygiel.
By Anastasia Sokhadze
Friday, July 17
The President Salome Zurabishvili made a statement about the necessity to increase the mandate of the monitoring mission so that the mission can control the situation more effectively, which will bring more peace to the administrative line and enable our citizens on both sides of the administrative line to live in more normal conditions.
"We are all witnessing the frequency of kidnappings, we know how difficult the humanitarian situation is beyond the administrative line.”
On July 11th, Zaza Gakheladze was abducted by the occupants in Kaspi and wounded with a firearm. According to the Acting State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, Lia Gigauri, he is in Akhalgori hospital and his life is not in danger.
The President of Georgia reaffirmed the support of the new Head of the EUMM for him and the Presidential Administration in order to create all the conditions for the implementation of the mission's mandate.
The Head of Mission provided the President with comprehensive information on the mission's activities, noting that the EUMM is the only international observer mission on the ground capable of presenting objective, fact-based assessments and reports.
Szczygiel thanked the president for her appreciation of the mission, for her interest in the operational activities, and for wanting the work to be in line with the original mandate that covers the entire territory of Georgia.
The meeting also focused on future plans, the Geneva talks and other formats that should be activated.
EUMM is an unarmed civilian monitoring mission in Georgia. It was established by the European Union on September 15th 2008. The mission has been conducting 24-hour patrols, paying special attention to the territories adjacent to the administrative borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The mission’s efforts mainly include monitoring the situation on the ground and reporting on incidents.
