- Title: ALBANIA: Country to scale up monitoring mission in Ukraine
- Date: 24th April 2014
- Summary: TIRANA, ALBANIA (APRIL 24, 2014) (REUTERS) ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER, DITMIR BUSHATI, AND SWISS PRESIDENT, FOREIGN MINISTER AND OSCE CHAIRPERSON-IN-OFFICE DIDIER BURKHALTER WALK INTO BUILDING DITMIR BUSHATI AND DIDIER BURKHALTER SHAKE HANDS / WALK AWAY MEETING IN PROGRESS DIDIER BURKHALTER AT MEETING TABLE / DITMIR BUSHATI (SOUNDBITE) (English) OSCE CHAIRPERSON-IN-OFFICE, DIDIER BURKHALTER, SAYING: "We will scale up the mission up to 500 monitors and we also need more competences in the mediations tasks above all. Therefore, we need the contributions of a lot of countries." CAMERA OPERATOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) OSCE CHAIRPERSON-IN-OFFICE, DIDIER BURKHALTER, SAYING: "Concretely we would like to help free occupied buildings, but that means that we need also to count on a political will on the ground by the main actors." OFFICIALS AT PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) OSCE CHAIRPERSON-IN-OFFICE, DIDIER BURKHALTER, SAYING: "The OSCE will engage very strongly in the next days and that was already the case in the last days, but once more we need a political willingness for finding a solution with dialogue and not with violence and it is not very easy." BURKHALTER AND BUSHATI DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) OSCE CHAIRPERSON-IN-OFFICE, DIDIER BURKHALTER, SAYING: "About the expectations, well we have a very clear task of observing and reporting. But after the Geneva declaration it is also very clear and we have to mediate, to facilitate the dialogue." BUSHATI AND BURKHALTER WALKING AWAY EXTERIOR OF ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY BUILDING
- Embargoed: 9th May 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Albania
- Country: Albania
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVAPYRYTV1SULOCUT0IFGIQKAK4
- Story Text: The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is set to increase its monitoring mission in Ukraine to 500 people in the next few months, the security watchdogs Chairperson-in-Office said on Thursday (April 24).
Swiss President Didier Burkhalter said the mission, which aim to defuse the crisis in Ukraine, would require support from many of its members.
"We will scale up the mission up to 500 monitors and we also need more competences in the mediations tasks above all. Therefore, we need the contributions of a lot of countries," said Burkhalter, after meeting Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati in Tirana.
"Concretely we would like to help free occupied buildings, but that means that we need also to count on a political will on the ground by the main actors," he added.
The pan-European rights and security group already has some 150 monitors on the ground.
Burkhalter said the watchdog would push for dialogue in the coming days.
"The OSCE will engage very strongly in the next days and that was already the case in the last days, but once more we need a political willingness for finding a solution with dialogue and not with violence and it is not very easy."
Burkhalter's comments come on the same day as Ukrainian forces saying they had killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels as they closed in on the separatists' military stronghold in the city of Slaviansk.
Russia launched army drills near the border in response, raising fears its troops would invade.
Burkhalter said the monitoring mission would need to mediate between the sides and encourage dialogue.
"We have a very clear task of observing and reporting. But after the Geneva declaration it is also very clear and we have to mediate, to facilitate the dialogue."
The Ukrainian offensive amounts to the first time Kiev's troops have used lethal force to recapture territory from the fighters, who have seized swathes of eastern Ukraine since April 6 and proclaimed an independent "People's Republic of Donetsk".
Ukraine's acting president accused Moscow of supporting "terrorism at the state level" against his country for backing the rebels, who the government blames for kidnapping and torturing a politician found dead on Saturday (April 19).
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry said its forces backed by the army had removed three checkpoints manned by armed groups in the separatist-controlled city of Slaviansk. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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