OSCE Chair to meet Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine

BERN, 11 April 2014 - Didier Burkhalter, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Swiss Foreign Minister, will travel to Ukraine and meet the Special Monitoring Mission on Monday, 14 April.

He will visit the training venue of monitors in Kyiv who will subsequently be deployed to various regions in Ukraine. Their task is to gather information and report on the security, as well as on the human rights situation, including the rights of national minorities.

Burkhalter will meet with Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, who will begin work as Chief Monitor that day. Burkhalter will have talks with the Acting Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Andrii Deshchytsia, before continuing his trip to visit monitors working in one of the regions.

The Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine was decided upon by the Permanent Council of the OSCE on 21 March 2014. Its aim is to contribute to reducing tensions and fostering peace, stability and security. As of Thursday, 10 April 2014, the total number of staff has risen to 123 from 40 participating States, of which 85 are currently deployed as monitors to Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk, Chernivtsi, Luhansk and Kyiv.