OSCE
Secretary General Lamberto Zannier says the organization is considering sending
an armed police mission to the Donbass region during local elections there.
WASHINGTON, May 20. /TASS/. The Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is considering sending an armed
police mission to the militia-controlled areas of Ukraine’s south-eastern
Donbass region during local elections there, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto
Zannier said in an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday.
"It would be a police operation to help maintain
law and order in this area and ... to help provide a safe environment for the
elections to take place," Zannier told the AP.
According to Zannier, his group may send hundreds of
policemen to maintain law and order during the voting with the consent of all
the sides.
Zannier said the mission, which has been requested by
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, could work alongside the local police
force in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions to prevent criminal activity and help
international observers monitor the vote, AP reported. The mission would only
be able to deploy after both sides fully commit to a ceasefire. "It is a
complicated scenario, but it’s certainly something that we can do if, as I say,
everybody agrees," Zannier said. In addition, another condition for the
mission’s work will be the observance of the ceasefire regime.
Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko insists that the
OSCE mission should be armed, however, after a meeting of the foreign ministers
of the Normandy Four (comprising Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France) that was
held in Berlin on May 11, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made it clear
that Moscow sees no need in expanding the mission’s mandate. According to him,
Kiev explained the arming of the observers by the need to ensure free
electioneering. However, Moscow is certain that the elections can be
successfully held without any militarized units.
Source: ITAR-TASS 20-05-2016
