EU declaration is expected this afternoon
France, which holds the EU presidency, is consulting its European partners to seek EU condemnation of Russia`s recognition of rebel Georgian provinces, officials said Tuesday."We are consulting our partners to seek an EU declaration this afternoon. We hope it will be a condemnation of this recognition," a foreign ministry official told AFP. France earlier said Russia`s recognition of the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states was a "regrettable decision."