EU concerned at humanitarian access to Georgia

(BRUSSELS) - Access for humanitarian aid workers to the Georgia conflict zone has not improved despite a truce between Moscow and Tbilisi, the European Commission said Thursday.

"The cessation of hostilities announced by Moscow has not yet reflected particularly into any improvement in terms of access for humanitarian aid workers," commission spokesman John Clancy told reporters in Brussels.

"Emergency medical aid is urgently needed," said Clancy.

"We hope that the situation changes in the coming hours," he added, stressing that his latest information had been received late Wednesday.

The commission, the EU's executive arm, called on all sides to allow the free and speedy access of aid workers to the worst-affected people in South Ossetia, where the conflict broke out, and elsewhere in Georgia.

While admitting that there had been no trouble in this regard from the Georgian authorities, he did not want to blame Russian forces in particular.

"We appeal to all sides when we address humanitarian issues," Clancy said.

Aid was required particularly in the camps hastily set up for displaced people within Georgia, mostly in and around the capital Tbilisi, the spokesman said.

These camps "lack the minimum basics," lacking beds and personal space and are "badly equipped as a general rule."

Long-term food security will probably also become a concern, according to the commission.

This is due in part to the loss of harvests, food reserves and livelihoods of the refugees and internally displaced people, currently estimated at 90,000, according to the Commission.

As well as access to hotspots for humanitarian workers another problem is getting the aid in to the area, with ports being particularly hazardous.

Marie Anne Isjer-beguin, chair of the European parliament's Georgia delegation, appealed in Tbilisi jointly for a humanitarian corridor to be set.