European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia
The European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia is an unarmed peacekeeping mission operated by the European Union in Georgia. The EUMM was conceived in September 2008 following the EU-mediated ceasefire agreement, which ended the Russo-Georgian War. The mission has around 200 monitors from EU member states and operates with an annual budget of roughly 18 million euros. Its headquarters are in Tbilisi, with field offices in Gori, Mtskheta and Zugdidi.
The EUMM patrols the South Ossetian administration boundary line in armored SUVs in February 2012.
EUMM signs
South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated population of just over 56,500 people (2022), who live in an area of 3,900 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi), with 33,000 living in the capital city, Tskhinvali.
South Ossetia before the war
Tskhinvali in August 2008
Palm Sunday procession in Tskhinvali
The Dzuarikau–Tskhinvali pipeline, delivering natural gas from Russia to South Ossetia, went online in 2009.