OSCE Secretary General concludes visit to Ukraine
On 13 February 2015 the OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier concluded a three-day working visit to Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk. During the visit, Zannier held meetings with government officials, representatives of the regional administration and civil society. In Dnipropetrovsk, he visited the Centre for internally displaced persons (IDPs), to which he handed over a donation of 20,000 Euros from the OSCE charity fund.
“Ukraine needs all the assistance possible,” said Zannier in Kyiv. “While we are now all focusing on the Minsk Package of measures to ensure a full and sustainable ceasefire and the withdrawal of heavy weaponry, we must not forget that there is also a need to support the government’s efforts to implement reforms and to facilitate national dialogue between different communities.”
“In close co-ordination with other partners in the international community the OSCE intends to continue playing an important role in strengthening international support to Ukraine at this crucial moment,” he added.
In Kyiv, Zannier participated in the opening of a public forum marking 15 years of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine (PCU). Together with the Project Co-ordinator Ambassador Vaidotas Verba he discussed how the PCU could respond more effectively to the recent political and security developments and increase synergies with the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine in assisting the country to address the challenges it is facing. “The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine is a long-term tool for OSCE assistance to Ukraine. While the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine is currently more in the spotlight, the Project Co-ordinator looks at the wider issues, such as supporting dialogue and reconciliation in the country or assisting the efforts to clean up areas from mines and unexploded ordnance,” said Zannier.
Zannier also met the SMM team leader in Dnipropetrovsk and got a comprehensive briefing on the current developments and the Mission’s work in the country.