On 17 September, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis and Foreign Ministers of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Latvia visited the headquarters of the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia. The Ministers stressed the importance of the mission in “defusing the tension” and emphasised that the work of the mission should continue.

“As the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia has been implementing its mandate for five years, the same concern about the implementation of Russia’s commitments still remains. So far the EUMM has not been unable to fully carry out its duties, because it still does not have access to the entire territory of Georgia,” Ažubalis said.

Head of the Mission Andrzej Tyszkiewicz presented the Ministers the activities and challenges of EUMM.

The Ministers also stressed the importance of the freedom of movement and communication. Attention was drawn to the fact that the five Ministers, who visited Georgia together, were representatives of the countries that accepted the status-neutral travel document for travelling in their territory.

The countries not only support the Mission politically. Lithuania has delegated four representatives to the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia.