EU, NATO deplore shooting in Georgia without accusing Russia

(BRUSSELS) - NATO and the EU voiced concern Monday after shots were fired on a convoy carrying the Georgian and Polish presidents near South Ossetia, while stopping short of accusing Russia over the incident.

"I don't know exactly what happened," NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a joint press conference EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.

"It is wrong and certainly not in the spirit of the (ceasefire) agreement," which ended the brief Georgia-Russian war in August, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation chief said.

"We are not blaming anyone, but I blame certainly those who started the shooting," he said.

Moscow and Tblisi exchanged accusations over the alleged shooting incident near a convoy carrying Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Polish President Lech Kaczynski Sunday, as Georgia marked the fifth anniversary of its pro-Western "Rose Revolution."

Georgia accused Russian troops near the breakaway region of South Ossetia of opening fire as the convoy carrying the two leaders drove by -- a claim Russia denied.

The EU's Solana also voiced regret over the incident, while remaining similarly cautious on the perpetrators.

"We are in contact with the (EU) monitors," on the ground in Georgia and "we will see later today" what the observer mission reports on the incident, he said.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said it was "very concerned" at the reports, while also stressing that it was awaiting a full report.

"Political dialogue is the only way to proceed and this in the Geneva talks which are the place to talk about all open questions," said commission spokeswoman Christiane Hohmann.

She affirmed that the EU does not recognise South Ossetia and the other Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia, though Moscow has done so.

Russia and Georgia made progress in resolving security and refugee issues at international talks in Geneva last week, but key disagreements were shelved in the wake of their August war, officials said.

A previous attempt broke up in embarrassing failure last month when Russian and Georgian delegates failed to even sit down in the same room amid disagreements on the presence of representatives from Georgian rebel regions.