Ambassador Pádraig Murphy, the new Special Representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office for the South Caucasus and his staff recently visited the Mtskheta Field Office of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia. The deputy chief of the Field Office briefed them on the work of the monitors there and the challenges they face. The delegation then followed an EUMM patrol to Odzisi to observe the crossing procedures across the South Ossetian Administrative Boundary Line (ABL). After that they visited the settlement for Internally Displaced Persons in Tserovani to see the living conditions there.
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The European Union Monitoring Mission does not only monitor the compliance of all sides with the 2008 ceasefire agreement but also observes freedom of movement issues at the ABLs and works to ensure that people affected by the crisis can go on safely with their daily lives. As confidence building measures the OSCE and EUMM facilitate meetings between the Georgian, the Russian as well as the de facto South Ossetian authorities. In the Abkhaz theatre, similar meetings are facilitated by the UN, where the EUMM also participates.
The next Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meeting is to take place on 21 February in Ergneti.