Deauville, France  - The European Union's observation mission in Georgia has enjoyed "a smooth start," with monitors being allowed by Russian troops to enter the country's buffer zones, the spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said Wednesday.

"The monitors have entered the buffer zones, as foreseen," said Cristina Gallach.

Some 350 EU staff, of which 200 are operating as monitors, began operations in the south Caucasus nation on Wednesday.

Reports out of Georgia indicated that early morning negotiations with Russian troops had been necessary before the observers could enter the buffer zones set up by Moscow forces around the separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But Solana's spokeswoman played down any tension between the two sides, saying the monitors were holding "regular exchanges" with senior Russian officials.

"Today we had a smooth start," Gallach said. "The monitors have been able to go wherever they planned" and "will move in coordination with the Russians."

The monitors, unarmed and dressed in civilian attire, were due to patrol Georgia and ensure that both Russia and Georgia stick to a September 8 deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Under the terms of the deal, Russian troops are to leave the buffer zones by October 10 and Georgian security forces are to be allowed back into the villages occupied by Russia during the August conflict. The monitors will also ensure that civilians are able to return to the villages that they fled.

"We expect that nobody will attack them," Solana's spokeswoman said when asked how the monitors should react to any provocation.

Solana was attending an informal meeting of EU defence ministers in Deauville, France, having toured Georgia a day earlier. (dpa)