Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen told the Dutch House of Representatives yesterday that the Netherlands would seek a role in the monitoring mission the EU intends to send to Georgia to maintain stability in the conflict regions.
The European Union will send a team of two hundred observers to Georgia this month. President Sarkozy of France, which current holds the EU presidency, and President Medvedev of Russia agreed on Monday that Russia would withdraw its troops from the buffer zones around Abkhazia and South Ossetia as soon as the EU mission could begin monitoring the cease-fire.
'We remain highly critical of Russia's actions and will be vigilant in ensuring that the parties comply fully with the agreement,' said Mr Verhagen.
Georgia has promised not to use force against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which want to secede from Georgia.
The EU is expected to send a civilian mission to Georgia that will coordinate its activities with observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) already in place.
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