MINSK – The special representative of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), which mediates the situation in eastern Ukraine, Martin Sajdik described as unacceptable the incidents that happened with the staff of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Donbas, and is awaiting relevant reactions from all parties.
Speaking at a briefing after a TCG meeting in Minsk on Wednesday, Sajdik mentioned yesterday’s shell attack on the SMM staff in the breakaway parts of the Donetsk region. Such incidents are unacceptable, Sajdik said.
It is obvious that all parties are responsible for the Mission’s safety and freedom of movement, he said. They must not only respond promptly but also reaffirm their commitment to this principle at the highest political level, the OSCE special representative said.
He added that he supports the initiative of the security subgroup and today raised this issue with the TCG, expecting relevant reaction from all sides.
The OSCE SMM said in a June 20 report that its six-member patrol, traveling in two armored vehicles, were attacked by two men in military uniform, one of them armed, at the observation post at a railway station in the town of Yasynuvata controlled by the Donetsk people’s republic.
OSCE SMM first deputy chief Alexander Hug gave a similar assessment of the incident.
It is totally unacceptable that the DPR cannot, or does not want to, control this territory and its people, Hug told a press conference in Donetsk on Wednesday. The OSCE urges, and will urge, those who de facto control this territory to make sure that people who carried out this attack are held to account, Hug said.
