The Chatham House Russia and Eurasia Programme and British Georgian Society are holding an expert roundtable with Richard Lewington Wednesday 3 October 2012:

A Personal View of My Year with the EU Monitoring Mission
at Chatham House, 10 St James’s Square, London, SW1Y 4LE 16:00 until 17:30 (coffee at 15:45).

The European Union’s engagement in the conflicts of the South Caucasus has often been criticised for being neither sufficiently visible nor consistent in its approach. The EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia was established following the August 2008 war to help stabilise the situation on the ground. The Mission’s observation and reporting activities have faced several problems, lack of access to to Abkhazian and South Ossetian territory among them. Richard Lewington will discuss the objectives, the achievements and the failures of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia and the challenges posed by state and non-state actors in the region. He will speak for approximately 15 minutes, followed by an hour for questions and discussion.

Richard Lewington worked with the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia between August 2011 and August 2012. He joined the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office in 1967 and his postings included Mongolia, Peru, the Soviet Union, Israel and Yugoslavia. He served as British Ambassador to Kazakhstan (1999-2002) and to Ecuador (2002-2006). From 2007 to 2009, he was Chief Technical Adviser on Tajikistan for the EU Border Management and Drug Action Programmes in Central Asia (BOMCA/ CADAP).

Admission by invitation only. For further details please contact info@britishgeorgiansociety.org

A transcript of the meeting will be available shortly.