EU leaders to visit Moscow and Tbilisi in September

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President of France, Chairman of the European Union Nicolas Sarkozy announced at a press conference following the special EU summit on Sep 1 that he himself, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and EC President Jose Manuel Barroso are intending to visit Tbilisi and Moscow where the officials are planning to hold talks on resolving crisis in the Georgian-Russian relations, REGNUM correspondent reported.

According to Sarkozy, during the trip that is to start Sep 8, the delegation is going to discuss the process of fulfilment of the ceasefire agreement of 6 articles, as well as continuation of the peacekeeping process in Georgia's conflict zones in general. ''September 8 is going to be a very important date in the EU-Russian relations,'' Sarkozy noted. The President of France claimed that Russia, to his view, used ''unproportional force'' against Georgia and stressed that the EU unanimously condemned ''Russia's aggression'' against Georgia. ''Redistribution of influence zones is unacceptable in such a form. The age of Yalta is long since past. We all unanimously condemn Russia's aggression against Georgia. We in the EU are absolutely conscious of our responsibility for the fate of Europe and this is why we are ready for dialog with Russia,'' Sarkozy declared.

He pointed out that for yet another time, the EU confirms its recognition of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia, and these principles will undoubtedly be taken into account while developing a long-term document on the resolution of the conflicts. Nicolas Sarkozy announced that the EU was going to support Georgia by all means. ''We will not dissapoint it in its hopes, either from the financial or other point of view,'' Sarkozy promised. Speaking of financial aid, Sarkozy informed that at the first stage — in the form of immediate help — the EU would render to Georgia 6 million euros, and an international donor conference seeking support of Georgia was supposed to be held soon.