EU report on Georgia war delayed as tensions rise
A European Union report into the origins of last year's war in Georgia, which may implicate leaders of the former Soviet republic in starting the fighting, has been delayed to avoid provoking fresh tensions.
European governments have postponed the publication of the Swiss-led investigation from July 31 to the end of September, amid fears of new tensions between Russia and Georgia in August, which marks the first anniversary of the Kremlin's invasion.
"No one wants to do anything that could raise the temperature in the region during a sensitive period," said a European diplomat. "Investigators asked for more time and, frankly, that is convenient at a time when tensions in the region are naturally high one year on from the conflict."
Joe Biden, the US vice-president, arrives in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, tomorrow to show that America continues to reject Russia's claims of a "sphere of influence" over former Soviet republics.
Divisions between European governments over how to respond to Russia's invasion of Georgia -- and Moscow's de facto annexation of the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia -- lie behind the EU report into the war.
Britain is less worried about who fired the first shots and mainly concerned with the principle of Russia occupying two regions of Georgian territory.
Other countries, led by Germany, lean towards Russia's claim that President Mikheil Saakashvili, of Georgia, fired the opening shots of the war and provoked the Kremlin's invasion. Early drafts of the EU report, leaked in Germany, have supported this view.
There is widespread speculation that Mr Saakashvili, facing opposition protests, may seek to divert attention away from his domestic problems by starting a new war.
Tensions rose last week when Russian held eight days of military exercises in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
- Bruno Waterfield in Brussels
