The EU Report on the Conflict in Georgia

On 30 September, 2009, Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini presented the results of a nine-month investigation into the August 2008 Georgia war. The ambassador was in charge of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG - CEIIG), which had been established by the Council of the European Union in December of the previous year.

According to the Mission's mandate, as agreed by the Council of the European Union, the aim of the fact-finding mission was to investigate the origins and the course of the conflict in Georgia, including with regard to international law (including the Helsinki Final Act), humanitarian law and human rights, and the accusations made in that context (including allegations of war crimes).

Among its findings, the report confirmed what the Republic of South Ossetia had said from the beginning: it was Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili who started the war on 7 August, 2008, and his attack on Tskhinval, which included the use of cluster bombs and other banned weapons, was in violation of international laws. The report also suggested that the United States and its NATO allies had contributed to the escalation of tension in the Caucasus, by providing arms and other military support to the government of Georgia.

The government of the Republic of South Ossetia does not agree with all of the commission's findings. For more on South Ossetia's position on the report, please see 10-02-09 Press Release.

However, we applaud Ambassador Tagliavini and her commission for its hard work and urge all interested parties to read the entire report, which can be accessed at www.ceiig.ch.

We also urge you read Ambassador Tagliavini's 30 September 2009 op-ed piece in the New York Times titled "Georgia On My Mind."

--The Government of the Republic of South Ossetia