"The council has endorsed the idea of holding an international independent investigation into the conflict in Georgia," Bernard Kouchner told journalists after the meeting in Brussels. France currently holds the EU presidency.
He added however that the decision was a mere formality as EU foreign ministers had agreed in principle to launch the probe during an informal meeting in Avignon on September 5-6, which focused on EU relations with Russia amid the Georgia crisis.
Kouchner said the ministers had also approved the deployment of a monitoring mission to Georgia. The initial decision to deploy the mission was made during an emergency summit in Brussels on September 1.
The EU is to deploy at least 200 observers in the so-called buffer zone near South Ossetia and Abkhazia by October 1, within 10 days after which Russia has pledged to completely withdraw its remaining troops from undisputed parts of Georgia.
Some 7,600 Russian peacekeepers are to be stationed indefinitely in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow recognized as independent states on August 26, two weeks after it had concluded its operation "to force Georgia to peace."
Russia's military operation came in response to an attack by Georgian forces on breakaway South Ossetia on August 8. Most residents of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have had Russian citizenship since the early 2000s.
Western nations strongly criticized Russia for its "disproportionate" response to Georgia's attack and its subsequent recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Only Nicaragua has also recognized the republics, although Belarus looks set to 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.
