Russia must pull back troops in Georgia, says head of EP delegation

Source: Press releases

Date: 16 August and 17 August 2008

Greens/EFA deputy and chair of parliament's delegation to Georgia, Marie Anne Isler Béguin, has warned Russia to withdraw its troops into the agreed boundaries after signing a peace treaty with Georgia.

Isler Béguin, who has just returned to Brussels after a trip to a refugee camp outside Tbilisi, said in a release on Sunday:

"Russia has signed the peace agreement with Georgia negotiated by the French European Union Presidency. Now Russia has to withdraw its troops into the agreed boundaries.

"Cities such as Gori, where I was yesterday as a first international witness after the signing of the signing of the peace agreement by President Medvedev, need urgently to be opened to Georgian and international humanitarian aid.

"Georgian civil administration needs to take over and guarantee the safety of the people. This is a precondition for the refugees such as these admirable people I met in this camp in Tbilisi, who only wait to return back to their families and homes in Gori."

The French MEP participated in a first diplomatic convoy into the city of Gori led by the French ambassador Eric Fournier on Saturday.

She described what she saw in another press release, issued over the weekend.

"The city is empty, almost all population has fled. Those staying behind have no more food supplies. While Russian troops patrol during daytime, after curfew at 22.00 hrs illegal militias of unknown origin are free to loot, steal, and intimidate those still in Gori.

"There is urgent need to open a corridor for humanitarian help for these people, now. They need food, they need hope, and they need to know that we are here and will look after them."

According to a UN press release, in response to an urgent request from the Georgian government, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) on Saturday dispatched a truckload of food to Gori, where it has been unable to reach people due to insecurity.

Calling the situation in the town "desperate", the WFP’s Georgia country director, Lola Castro, said: "We are providing the Government with high energy biscuits (HEB) and sugar to meet the urgent needs of the most vulnerable displaced people in the town."

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