UK Defence Minister Baroness Taylor visited the EUMM’s Tbilisi Field Office based in Mtskheta on Wednesday 11 February. She was met by the Deputy Head of the EU Monitoring Mission General Gilles Janvier, and senior British staff from the Field Office, who briefed her on the background, role and progress of the Mission and the work of the Field Office.
General Janvier explained that the recent restructuring of the EUMM monitoring teams within the Field Offices was working well. The new structure of three teams covering Police, Justice, and Human Rights; IDPs and humanitarian issues; and military issues was intended to allow the patrols to better address the requirements of the Mission mandate and bring uniformity across the Field Offices. The mixing of nationalities and specialists within patrols had also proved effective.
Staff explained that our best weapon was that we had professional, civilian, unarmed teams – this helped to reduce tension on the ground. Our mandate was clear, and in carrying out our tasks we did all we could to interact with local, military and police communities – seeking to build trust and confidence in our abilities. One of the issues being followed up by the Tbilisi Field Office was local representation for the IDPs at the Tserovani settlement – at the moment they have no right to vote locally since they are still registered elsewhere.
Baroness Taylor was interested and impressed by the scale of the work of the Field Office and the Mission and the size of the area of responsibility covered by the Field Office.
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