Frustration as EU monitors barred

Richard Galpin
BBC News, Mukhrani

The monitors left a luxury hotel in a convoy of 4x4 vehicles

The European Union monitors who are lucky enough to be based at Bazaleti, not far from the Georgian capital Tbilisi, are starting to live a life of luxury.

Their home is an upmarket holiday resort set on a beautiful lake.

It was here that we met the team which would be responsible for patrolling the eastern sector of the buffer zone surrounding South Ossetia.

On Wednesday morning, they received their final instructions before driving off in a convoy of white 4x4 vehicles, flying the blue flag of the EU.

Some of the Jeeps were armoured, others had sophisticated communications equipment on board.

Frustration

We followed the patrol carrying the head of the EU monitoring mission, Hansjoerg Haber, up the road from Mukhrani towards the Georgian town of Akhalgori, which is now controlled by both Russian and South Ossetian forces.

Hansjoerg Haber couched his frustration in diplomatic terms

We had expected that they would at least make some attempts to reach the buffer zone carved up by Russian troops in this area.

Instead the patrol stopped in a village, a long way from the nearest Russian checkpoint.

Mr Haber and his team of EU monitors jumped out and started talking to the local population.

A group of villagers told him how they had been stopped by Russian soldiers from reaching Akhalgori where they had relatives.

Their frustration was something Mr Haber shared, like the villagers he and his team were not able to reach the places they hoped to.

'Softly, softly'

They had been deterred by warnings from the Russian army that they would not be allowed through its checkpoints because of what the Russians said were security concerns.

Some vehicles were allowed past Russian army checkpoints

One British monitor told me they had no intention of trying to push the boundaries and confront the Russians and that they were taking a "softly-softly" approach at the start of their mission, even though the ceasefire agreement explicitly states that the monitors' mission is to patrol inside the buffer zone.

"This is a new mission and things change," he said.

With that the monitors got back in their vehicles, turned round and headed back towards Mukhrani.

Their "patrol" was over, apparently a successful first day "demonstrating their presence in the area and making contact with the local population".

Back at Mukhrani, Mr Haber held an impromtu news conference outside a huge stone wall of an 18th century church.

His frustration was couched in diplomatic terms but was clear nonetheless.

"We expected to get into the buffer zone," he said, "but we received different signals from the Russian military authorities and the [Russian] political and diplomatic [authorities]".

"They [the military] were concerned about security, but security is our matter. We will have to clarify these differences in the coming hours and days."

These negotiations will be critical to determine whether the Russians are deliberately trying to hamper the EU monitoring mission or whether they have valid concerns which need to be dealt with.

But the fact remains that, with the EU monitors now on the ground in Georgia, the Russian troops now have just under 10 days to withdraw from the buffer zone under the term of the agreement signed by the Russian and French presidents in Moscow in early September.

As one Georgian security official put it, "the clock is now ticking... but fortunately for us they have to comply with international commitments".