Deputy Head of EU Monitoring Mission, Ms. Kate Fearon, explains the Mission’s mandate to young Diplomats, within its Outreach Programme

On 16 April, the Deputy Head of the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM), Ms. Kate Fearon, visited the Levan Mikeladze Diplomatic Training Centre of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia. Ms. Fearon delivered a lecture on the “EUMM in Georgia”. The lecture covered mainly the role of EUMM, ways of implementing its Mandate, current challenges and achievements of the Mission.

The Deputy Head of Mission opened the lecture with a short overview of the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), paying particular attention to the nature of civilian and military Missions operating under CSDP. 

During her presentation, after providing the timeline for 2008 conflict in Georgia, Ms. Fearon stressed EUMM’s contribution to managed stability on the ground, including reporting to EU policy-making bodies in Brussels and EU member state capitals. The role of EUMM in confidence building along the administrative Boundary Lines, was also emphasized. 

During the lecture, the Deputy Head of Mission referenced the 2008 Six-Point Agreement in relation to the Mission’s mandate, and the challenges of its implementation. Ms. Fearon underlined the importance of the work undertaken within the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) meetings in Gali and Ergneti. The Hotline was noted as one of the most successful mechanisms facilitated by the Mission. The Deputy Head of Mission provided a brief overview of the Hotline activations, its nature and impact it makes on the managed stability on the ground.  

“We consider the Hotline and IPRM meetings as very significant in maintaining communication between all parties. Through these mechanisms capacity to ensure stability on the ground is enhanced,” she noted. Within this context, the importance of the Geneva International Discussions, as the only international format of dialogue between the parties, was also underlined. 

The engaging lecture was followed by a Q & A session, where the young diplomats expressed their interest in the Mission’s perspective regarding conflict management in Georgia and other Mandate related challenges. 

This cycle of the public lectures initiated by the Mission was launched in November 2016 and involves presentations/lectures to higher educational institutions throughout Georgia. The EUMM holds public lectures within its informative-educational project, and aims to raise awareness about the Mission and its Mandate. 

(Right to Left) Ms. Ketevan Chumbadze, the Deputy Head of Political Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduces the Deputy Head of Mission to the Young Diplomats and provides a short overview of Ms. Fearon’s professional background

The Deputy Head of Mission, Ms. Fearon, spoke on the main pillars of the EU Monitoring Mission’s mandate and the history of its implementation over the last 9 years

During the lecture, Ms. Fearon paid particular attention to the Hotline mechanism; she underlined its growing importance, its activation and its role in maintaining communication between the parties

Q & A in progress