05.09.08: EU ministers map out Georgia peace mission - The Diigo Meta page

• 05 Sep 08
  

  Prof. Dr Wolfgang Schumann

  eu-policies cfsp esdp georgia russia belarus ukraine

  • The final shape of an EU security mission to Georgia and broader EU-Russia relations will top the agenda of an EU foreign ministers' meeting in France this weekend. The possibility of relaxing sanctions against Belarus and prospects for a new Ukraine treaty will also come up for debate.
  • It remains uncertain if the unit will be composed of EU-badged policemen or soldiers however, if it will stand alongside OSCE monitors or be part of an OSCE-led team and if it will have access to the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
  • The Avignon meeting will also examine if the EU should relax sanctions against Belarus, which last month released three political prisoners and promises to hold its free and fairest-ever parliamentary elections on 28 September.

  • The Evian summit had been due to see the signing of the political chapter of a new "Association Agreement" and the launch of talks for future visa-free travel to Europe.

      

    But Germany has blocked the insertion of a phrase saying the EU "recognizes" Ukraine's accession "perspective" in the treaty preamble, with Ukraine saying it will not sign a watered-down text.

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