On June 21-22, the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), Ambassador Marek Szczygieł, together with the Mission representatives paid his first visit to Samtskhe-Javakheti region. On this occasion, he met with representatives of local authorities and with civil society and also gave interviews to local media.
Through his meetings with local officials and civil society representatives, the Head of Mission received a first-hand understanding of the regional situation, with a focus on the challenges faced by local ethnic minorities. In turn, he informed his interlocutors in detail of the Mission’s work and current priorities, especially in terms of confidence-building.
The Head of Mission also met representatives of local media and gave interviews to Radio Nor (based in Ninotsminda) and Jnews (based in Akhalkalaki). In his interviews, he explained the role and mandate of EUMM and stressed the vital role played by the EUMM-managed Hotline and of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) in promoting stability and building confidence.
As the Head of Mission noted, EUMM’s mandate covers Georgia within its internationally recognized borders and, although most of the patrols are organized along the Administrative Boundary Lines to monitor security and humanitarian developments, EUMM also regularity visits the Samtskhe-Javakheti region.
The visit was a part of an outreach effort from EUMM to increase the understanding of its mandate and activities throughout Georgia, including in regions where ethnic minority communities live.
For more, listen to the Head of Mission’s interview, audio version, (in Russian) with Nor Radio here: https://nor.ge/?p=178816
And read his interview with Jnews (in Russian) here: https://jnews.ge/?p=75250
