MOSCOW - The authorities of the self-proclaimed Donbas republics see no prospects for the deployment of the armed police mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to Donbas.
The presence of the international police mission in the region would contradict the Minsk agreements, Eduard Basurin, a senior official with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Defense Ministry told Interfax on May 20.
“The Minsk ‘Package of measures’ firmly specifies that no foreign military or paramilitary forces should be stationed in Donbas,” he said.
He recalled that the current mandate of the OSCE mission in Donbas does not allow the observers to carry weapons.
In turn, Vladislav Deinego, plenipotentiary representative of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) to the Trilateral Contact Group for the Donbas conflict resolution, told Interfax that the contact group does not discuss the issue of the deployment of the OSCE armed police mission to Donbas. “This issue has not been discussed in Minsk. No steps in this direction can be taken bypassing the contact group,” he said.
He agreed that the OSCE observers’ mandate does not allow for the conducting of police operations. “The current OSCE mandate is intended to last for a year. Any attempt to make alterations to the mandate in contradiction of the Minsk ‘Package of measures’ may negatively affect the peaceful settlement process,” he said.
However, the LPR makes no objections to the presence of the OSCE observers in their current status at the local elections in Donbas. “The issue of participation of the OSCE observers at the local elections is being in fact considered. They can work jointly with the people’s police as well. Nevertheless, they certainly should not be armed,” he said.
