The chairperson-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic, on May 3 "stressed the importance of the safety and security" of OSCE monitors posted in eastern Ukraine, the OSCE said.
Dacic “referred to several incidents over the May 1-2 period which placed them in potentially dangerous situations,” the organization said in a press release.
“The decision to dispatch an observer mission to Ukraine was unanimously supported by all 57 participating states. SMM monitors must be allowed unfettered access, with safety guarantees and with no interruption to their crucial work,” the release quoted him as saying.
In another statement, the OSCE said Ertugrul Apakan, head of the SMM – OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine – on May 2 “expressed his deep concern about an increase in incidents over the past 36 hours, involving live fire near and at SMM patrols.”
