This was said in the document, which was adopted following the Council session (a plenipotentiary forum of the 25 EU member-countries' heads and governments).
The summit participants also spoke in favor of implementation of all obligations imposed on Russia at the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999. The EU leaders hailed the results of the Russia-EU summit, which was held in Moscow on May 10, as well.
Currently two Russian military bases remain in Georgia, particularly in Akhalkalaki and Batumi. The decision on the withdrawal of the Russian military bases from Georgia was made at the OSCE summit in Istanbul in 1999. The timeframe for the withdrawal became a stumbling block in the Russian-Georgian relations. The Russian Defense Ministry stated at that time that the bases would be removed no earlier than in three or four years. The Georgian side in its turn insisted that the Russian soldiers should leave Georgia no later than January 1, 2008.
During the negotiations on May 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili agreed that Russia would withdraw its bases from Georgia in 2008.
According to the agreement, all military facilities except for the bases will be passed to Georgia in 2005. Military hardware will be removed from the Akhalkalaki base (near the Armenian border) in 2006 and the base itself will be closed in 2007. The remaining military hardware will be removed from the base in Batumi (a port on the Black Sea) in 2008 and the base will be closed.
