Foreign ministers of the 27 member states approved the deployment of at least 200 observers in Georgia's "buffer zone" near South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Monday. The initial decision to deploy the mission, which is expected to be in place by October 1, was made during an emergency summit in Brussels in early September.
The source said that 20 EU countries would contribute to the mission, which will be led by the EU's special representative for Georgia, Pierre Morel, with France, Germany and Italy making up the core team. France alone is ready to send 76 monitors to the region.
Once the EU mission has been deployed Russia will have 10 days to complete a full troop pull out from undisputed parts of Georgia.
The mission will ensure that a peace plan signed by the French and Russian presidents is complied with, as well as assist with maintaining public order and the return of refugees. The observers will comprise police and military personnel, lawyers and human rights advocates, some of whom will be armed, according to diplomatic sources.
Russia's military operation came in response to an attack by Georgian forces on breakaway South Ossetia on August 8. Russian peacekeepers will continue to be deployed in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Western nations strongly criticized Russia for its "disproportionate" response to Georgia's attack and its subsequent recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on August 26. Only Nicaragua has recognized the republics, although Belarus may follow suit later this month.
Abkhazia and South Ossetia broke away from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s amid armed conflicts that took thousands of lives.
