EU mission in the Caucasus

Approximately a month after the end of the war in Georgia the EU's foreign ministers have agreed to send an EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) to Georgia. 200 European police officers and civilian experts will take over the task of monitoring the buffer zone between Georgia and secessionist South Ossetia from the Russian soldiers as of October 10. "The EU is facing its biggest ever foreign-policy challenge," writes the daily newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. "Yes, the European Union has mediated in a few crises between quarrelling states and groups all over the world in the past. ... But Georgia is different. The Europeans are confronted with Russia as a conflicting party here. A Russia that is seeking its place among the great powers and which regards NATO and the EU's attempts to close in on it with suspicion. If Europeans bear in mind that this is not just about Georgia but above all about future relations between the EU and Russia on a shared continent, there is a chance that the political negotiations can be successful."

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