OSCE chair calls for build-up of monitoring mission in Ukraine
A special meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Tuesday will consider proposals to increase the strength of, and allocate additional funding for, the organization's monitoring mission in Ukraine, Swiss Foreign Minister and Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter has said.
"To assist Ukraine in implementing measures mentioned in the Geneva Statement, further specialized expertise would have to be made available, as well as funding to allow for a swift build-up of the mission," he said on Tuesday.
He said that the proposals would be considered at a special meeting of the Permanent Council in Vienna on April 22.
Last week, the foreign ministers of Russia, the United States, the EU and Ukraine agreed on a statement on how to overcome the crisis in Ukraine.
Burkhalter said he was "concerned by reports referring to worsening situations in some regions, including violent incidents with hostage taking."
He called on the "Ukrainian authorities to re-double their efforts to plan, prepare, and start the implementation of the various measures decided upon in the Geneva Statement."
"It is absolutely crucial to keep the momentum to be able to benefit from the positive dynamic created by the accord in Geneva," Burkhalter said.
He said that "political will on all levels – national, regional, and local – was key to overcoming stalemates."
The OSCE chair urged the "European Union, the Russian Federation and the United States to lend full support to the work of the Ukrainian authorities and local communities as well as to the Special Monitoring Mission."
Burkhalter said that all parties of the Geneva Statement should "publicly call on all stakeholders in Ukraine to refrain from violence, to swiftly liberate illegally seized buildings and unlawfully occupied streets, squares and areas, and to disarm."