The European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM Georgia) is an unarmed peacekeeping mission operated by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. The EUMM was conceived in September 2008 following the EU-mediated ceasefire agreement, which ended the

Russo-Georgian War The August 2008 Russo-Georgian War, also known as the Russian invasion of Georgia,Occasionally, the war is also referred to by other names, such as the Five-Day War and August War. was a war waged against Georgia by the Russian Federation and the ...

. The mission has around 200 monitors from EU member states and operates with a budget of over 47 million

euros The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

(2022/2024). Its headquarters are in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, with field offices in Gori,

Mtskheta Mtskheta ( ka, მცხეთა} ) is a city in the Mkhare, region of Mtskheta-Mtianeti, Georgia (country), Georgia. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is locat ...

and

Zugdidi Zugdidi ( ka, ზუგდიდი ; or ზუგიდი) is a city in the western Georgian historical province of Samegrelo (Mingrelia). It is situated in the north-west of that province. The city is located 318 kilometres west of Tbilisi, 3 ...

. The EUMM started its monitoring activities on 1 October 2008 and has since been patrolling both day and night, particularly in areas adjacent to the Administrative Boundary Lines with the Russian-backed separatist regions of

Abkhazia Abkhazia, officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a List of states with limited recognition, partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, at the intersection of Eastern Europe and West Asia. It cover ...

and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

. The organization's mission is to ensure that there is no return to hostilities, to facilitate the resumption of a safe and normal life for the local communities living in the areas adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and to build confidence among the conflict parties. TEUMM's mandate is valid throughout all of Georgia. However, in violation of the 2008 ceasefire agreement, Russia and the self-proclaimed Abkhazian and South Ossetian authorities have so far denied EUMM's access to territories under separatist control. EUMM operates under the

Common Security and Defence Policy The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the de ...

Background

Following the

in August 2008, the EU declared on 15 September 2008 to deploy a monitoring mission to Georgia. The main objectives of the mission is to fulfill the European commitment in re-establishing stability and normalisation following the crisis through an observer mission that consists of over 200 field specialists that conduct routine inspections within the stipulated zone of the mission that includes

and

. The mission is to observe the compliance with the fulfillment of the six-point-agreement established under the French brokered peace plan between Georgia and Russia on 12 August 2008. The mission started its monitoring activities on 1 October 2008, beginning with oversight of the withdrawal of Russian armed forces from the areas adjacent to South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Mandate

The Mission's mandate consists of stabilisation, normalisation and confidence building, as well as reporting to the EU in order to inform European policy-making and thus contribute to the future EU engagement in the region. Originally authorised for 12 months, the mandate has since been extended five times and is currently effective until 14 December 2018. EUMM is mandated to cover the whole territory of Georgia, within the country's internationally recognised borders, but the de facto authorities in Abkhazia and South Ossetia have so far denied access to the territories under their control. Gori EUMM field office sign

The Mission is working to prevent the renewal of an armed conflict, as well as to help make the areas adjacent to the Administrative Boundary Lines of the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia safe and secure for the local residents. The Mission wants to contribute to and create conditions whereby civilians can cross the Administrative Boundary Lines of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in both directions without fear and obstacles, thus reducing the detrimental effects of the dividing lines. All 27 EU Member States contribute personnel, both women and men, from a variety of civilian, police and military backgrounds. The Mission has its headquarters in

and three regional field offices in

, Gori and

. The current budget for the mission – with a staff of over 200 EU monitors – is €47,141,684 (2022/2024).

Timeline

On 25 April 2012, the government of Abkhazia declared the head of the EUMM in Georgia, ,

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (PNG) is a foreign diplomat that is asked by the host country to be recalled to their home country. If the person is not recalled as requested, the host state may refuse to recognize the person concerned as a member of the diplo ...

, accusing him of being biased towards the Georgian position in the conflict. In 2013, the EUMM established the 'EU special prize for peace journalism' to honour journalists that contribute, through their reporting, to the peaceful relations in Georgia. Since 2015 the Mission expanded its confidence-building activities by creating a 'Confidence Building Facility' to support small scale confidence-building projects between the conflicting parties

EUMM deployment to Armenia

On 17 October 2022, the EU announced that 40 observers stationed in Georgia with EUMM would be relocated to

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

to serve in the

European Union Monitoring Capacity to Armenia The European Union Monitoring Capacity to Armenia (EUMCAP) was a European Union List of military and civilian missions of the European Union, civilian deployment in the territory of Armenia that was agreed on 6 October 2022 and officially becam ...

for a period of 2 months. The observers monitored the

Armenia–Azerbaijan border The Armenia–Azerbaijan border (; ) is the international border between the Armenia, Republic of Armenia and the Azerbaijan, Republic of Azerbaijan. Estimates of the border's length vary from to . European routes European route E002, E002 and E ...

following the 2022 border crisis. The EUMM took operational steps to ensure its monitoring capacity in Georgia was not impacted. The mission concluded its activities on 19 December 2022. On 20 December 2022, the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

and the

Government of Armenia The Government of the Republic of Armenia () or the executive branch of the Armenian government is an executive council of government ministers in Armenia. It is one of the three main governmental branches of Armenia and is headed by the Pr ...

agreed that EUMM Georgia would deploy its personnel to serve in the

EU Planning Assistance Team in Armenia The European Union Planning Assistance Team in Armenia (EUPAT) was a European Union initiative established to assess the potential of deploying a long-term civilian CSDP mission to Armenia. It replaced the European Union Monitoring Capacity to A ...

. The mandate of the EU Planning Assistance Team in Armenia became active on 20 December 2022. The EU Planning Assistance Team was superseded by a

CSDP The Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) is the European Union's (EU) course of action in the fields of defence and crisis management, and a main component of the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). The CSDP involves the de ...

European Union Mission in Armenia The European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA) is a European Union Common Security and Defence Policy civilian deployment on the territory of Armenia. History The mission was announced on 23 January 2023 to build upon the work of two previous E ...

on 23 January 2023.

References

External links