Brussels - The head of the European Union's executive said Wednesday that he was "concerned" by a hoax TV report in Georgia which claimed that Russia had invaded again, urging Tbilisi to avoid stoking tensions in the volatile region.

The programme sparked panic across Georgia when it flashed the news that the country's fiery president, Mikhail Saakashvili, had been assassinated and the country invaded by Russian troops.

"I'm concerned with recent reports of the hoax news item in Tbilisi ... and I expressed this concern," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said after talks in Brussels with Georgian Premier Nika Gilauri.

"I want to urge Georgia to refrain from any activities which could exacerbate local or regional tensions," Barroso said.

He also urged the Georgian government to boost media freedom ahead of local elections later this year.

Gilauri stressed that the fake report had been carried by an independent broadcaster, rather than a state-owned one. Georgia's independent telecoms commission will investigate the incident, he said.

Tensions are still running high between Georgia and Russia after their 2008 war, which saw Russia occupy and assert the independence of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Peace talks are intermittently being held in Geneva, but so far have borne little fruit.

Barroso commended Georgia's contribution to the talks, and urged Russia to give EU monitors full access to the breakaway regions - something it has so far denied.

The EU's member states have unanimously rejected the two regions' independence.

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