Georgian commercial TV channel Imedi broadcast a faux newscast reporting on an allegedly initiated Russian invasion yesterday.

The hoax, which triggered panic in the country, was uncovered right after the news bulletin. The material was reportedly meant to explore one scenario of possible future events.

Meanwhile, the situation on the border between Georgia and the Russian-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains unstable, after a Russian-Georgian conflict broke out 1.5 year ago.

Polish soldiers, members of the EU peacekeeping forces, on location since October 2008, regret they only have access to areas controlled by Georgia.

”We wouldn’t want to go as far as to say that it’s peaceful as it is still not possible for us to cross the administrative border to observe what is happening on the other side,” says senior staff warrant officer Adam Radzewicz, from the Polish Armed Forces Operational Command. “We can only see developments from the Georgian perspective.”

Mission spokesperson Steve Bird highlights the Poles’ role in the operations. “We’re extremely grateful for the Polish contribution to the EU monitoring mission here in Georgia,” he said. “They are working extremely well and very hard. We have 24 members of staff from Poland out of a total of nearly 350 staff.”

EU leaders resolved to deploy a peacekeeping mission to the conflict area in September 2008, extending operations a year later, to end on 14 September 2010. (aba)