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Following yesterday’s European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) released the following statement about the EU agreeing to extend the mandate of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM) for another twelve months until the September 14, 2010: “We are almost at the one-year anniversary of the Russian-Georgian War and the EU Foreign Ministers have made a clear and commendable commitment to peace by extending the EU Monitoring Mission until September 2010. I welcome the EU’s willingness to take this step on behalf of the international community, a step all the more necessary because of the removal of the United Nations (UN) and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring missions. I also hope that the Swedish EU Presidency will maintain the constructive approach to Georgia and its neighbors enshrined in the “Eastern Partnership” intiative. Inaugurated this year, the Eastern Partnership is designed to promote greater social, economic, and political engagement between the EU and its neighbors. This is not about spheres of influence; it’s about building a sustainable peace. Georgia and Russia should be trading goods and services, not the occasional shot over the border.” # # #
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