Declaration by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the situation in Georgia

The European Union notes with concern the recent accusations of shellings and other incidents on both sides of the South Ossetian administrative boundary line. The European Union Monitoring Mission patrols on the ground in Georgia have seen no evidence so far to confirm mutual accusations of shellings.

The EU urges all sides to refrain from any statement or action that may lead to increased tensions at this particularly sensitive time.

The EU reaffirms the importance it attaches to all sides participating fully in the framework of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) and calls on all parties to cooperate fully with the IPRM in clarifying incidents, including those over the past few days. The EU further calls on all sides to give the EUMM unrestricted access to both sides of the South Ossetian administrative boundary line.

The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, align themselves with this declaration.

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.