14:27, 29 September 2008

EU military observers arrive to Zugdidi area in Georgia

The first military observers of the European Union (EU) have already arrived to the buffer zone located in Georgia's border with Abkhazia in the vicinity of the city of Zugdidi. This was reported today by General-Lieutenant Nikolai Uvarov, official spokesman of the Ministry of Defence of Russia.

As he said, the observers had already established communication with Russian peacekeepers as to future joint actions.

The mission of 200 EU observers is already in Georgia. They comprise civilians and technicians, including policemen from Germany and gendarmes from France.

By 6 p.m. Moscow time, Russian peacekeepers have removed their first five posts in the safety zone on Georgian-Abkhazian border in the vicinity of the city of Poti.

The safety zone on the border with South Ossetia comprises nine Russian peacekeeping posts, on the border with Abkhazia there were eight of them, now three remain, the RIA "Novosti" reports.