The European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) to Georgia has been extended by 2 years, till December 2020 – Eric Hogg, Head of EUMM to Georgia said in an exclusive interview with “Moambe” News Program of First Channel.

According to Hogg, EUMM is the only observation mechanism Georgia’s occupied regions, and the EU should ensure the mandate’s continuation.

“The mission is part of defense and security policy. . . .  We believe that we will continue working with 320 observers out of which 2/3 represents the EU and 1/3 – Georgian colleagues. I am glad that I have representatives of 26 member states of EU in the team,” Hogg said.

The EUMM to Georgia began working on October 1, 2008, two months after the August 2008 Georgia-Russia war. The mission had 200 members initially. The mission’s objective is to ensure security of locals residing across the occupied regions and evasion of military hostilities.

“We have been in Georgia for 10 years. During this period, we faced successes and failures. We witness many distressing facts but, in most cases, we manage to make lives of victims of the conflict easier,” Hogg claimed.