MINSK - Heidi Tagliavini's resignation as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) envoy for Ukraine could have been prompted by the disruption of the Trilateral Contact Group meeting on June 2, a source with the group organizing the Contact Group's meetings in Minsk said.
“The Contact Group’s meeting on June 2 can hardly be called productive. The parties failed to reach a compromise on a number of significant issues, including the procedural clearance of captives being prepared for a swap, and also amendments to the Ukrainian constitution and the organization of elections in Donbas,” the source told Interfax on June 6.
“Each party consistently defended its standpoint, and the Kyiv party was slightly more uncompromising. As a result, Tagliavini decided that day to finish the Contact Group’s work and postpone the discussion of the issues preliminarily to June 16, after which she most likely decided to go, apparently feeling pressure by one of the parties,” the source said.
The Contact Group participants have not yet made a decision on postponing the next meeting planned for June 16 to another date, he said.
“Nobody has made a decision on postponing the meeting so far. June 16 remains the preliminary date. Tagliavini is likely to introduce her successor to the parties by that time. We are continuing preparations for receiving the Contact Group in line with the schedule planned earlier,” he said.
Swiss media reported on Saturday that Ambassador Tagliavini, the OSCE chairperson-in-office’s special representative for Ukraine, would no longer perform its mandate. The reasons behind the decision were not named.
The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on June 5 evening confirmed a report by Swiss television that Tagliavini planned to give up her mandate as the OSCE special representative for Ukraine in the near future, srf.ch reported.
Tagliavini has been on diplomatic service since 1982. In 1990s-2000s, she worked within the OSCE and UN system in the Caucasus.
About a year ago, Tagliavini was appointed as then OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Didier Burkhalter’s special representative for Ukraine. Incumbent OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic extended her mandate in January 2015.
