The monitoring mission of the European Union in Georgia has noticed fewer Russian soldiers in the Russian-controlled regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, DPA reported today.
“They also moved a lot of equipment,” said the head of the mission, Greek diplomat Dimitrios Karabalis.
Nevertheless, even 15 years after the brief war between Georgia and Russia in August 2008, Karabalis sees no movement towards a possible resolution of the conflict over the breakaway regions.
About 200 EU monitors are currently patrolling the Georgian side of the 390-kilometer administrative border with South Ossetia and the 150-kilometer line with Abkhazia.
The observers, including 23 German policemen, directly confronted Russian troops across the dividing line.
Karabalis said he does not currently see much danger of open conflict breaking out there.
“They don’t have the staff or the technology to do anything,” Karabalis said.
He added that the same applies to the Georgian side of the conflict.
Unlike Azerbaijan, which has spent billions of dollars in oil revenue to reclaim the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region in a war against neighboring Armenia, Georgia lacks the resources to build up a military force, Karabalis said.
However, tensions can turn violent at any time, the diplomat said: “We are trying to keep the situation calm here. A small spark can start a big fire.”
Russia has replaced experienced and trained troops in the breakaway regions of Georgia with inexperienced soldiers and border guards who are unfamiliar with the situation. More experienced troops are being sent to fight in Ukraine.
“They don’t know who we are, they’re not prepared. It’s a security risk,” Karabalis said. “For this reason, we are distributing leaflets in Russian to explain what we are doing,” the head of the EU mission also pointed out.
2023-08-07 04:42:43
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