Vision problems?

OSCE performance in the east of Ukraine has shown a number of raised eyebrows from the outset of the armed conflict, considering that the Organization for Security and Coope­ration in Europe has decided to expand its special monitoring mission and double the manpower, from 100 to 250 persons, after almost six months of [undeclared] war in the Donbas. On October 23, OSCE launched the first of its four unmann­ed aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly known as drones, from Mykolaiv to help monitor the situation in the east of Ukraine. The big question is: Why was not this done earlier? The same question relates to the doubling of the mission staff, on both the Ukrainian and Rus­sian sides.

Michael Bociurkiw, spokesperson, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, says the mission staff lacks the required armored vehicles to move across the conflict territory. A very interesting statement, considering that the Organization has 57 member countries, more than enough to solve the problem financially.

Another negative aspect to the OSCE’s performance in Ukraine is the presence of Russian observers, consi­dering that Russia provoked the armed conflict in the Donbas and that it continues supporting the separatists, who are actually terrorists. Contrary to all OSCE statements meant to justify its inadequate performance, there are hard facts.

Mr. Bociurkiw told The Day that, under the OSCE Charter, the member country in which its observers operate can’t have its nationals on the monitoring staff. How about Russia as a direct participant in the Donbas conflict? Mr. Bociurkiw insisted that the monitoring mission was in Ukraine upon the Ukrainian government’s invitation; that all OSCE member countries were familiar with this requirement, and that Ukraine’s not being included in the mission had been agreed upon among the 57 member states.

The fact remains that there is a Russian monitoring team operating alongside the OSCE one in the Donbas, and that they are also faced with the manpower problem. Recently it transpired that the OSCE can’t reinforce its monitoring staff on the border between Ukraine and Russia because Russia is deliberately torpedoing this resolution at the OSCE Permanent Council. The US Mission to the OSCE press release (Oct. 22, 2014) reads: “Despite repeated requests from OSCE member and partner States, the Russian Federation continued to block the expansion of the Border Checkpoint Observation Mission beyond the two border checkpoints where it is currently deployed. These checkpoints together make up just 1 km of the hundreds of kilometers of the international border between Ukraine and Russia… Regretfully, this continued obstruction is yet another missed opportunity for Russia to match words with action and to contribute to de-escalation,” stated [US Permanent Representative to the OSCE] Ambassador Baer. “There should be no illusions – the observer mission as it stands is inadequate.”

Paul Picard, the acting OSCE chief observer in Rostov oblast (Russia), told The Day that, despite the manpower problem (a meager Observation Mission staff of 16 persons), each person works 60 hours per week, and that they secure 24/7 monitoring of the two border crossing points at Donetsk and Gukovo. He added that they are there to watch people move from Ukraine to Russia and vice versa. A dedicated effort, indeed, but monitoring just two border crossing points for such a long period of time is of little value, considering that almost 300 km of Ukraine-Russia border are left unobserved. What are the OM people doing in Ukraine? Monitoring what Russia allows them to mo­nitor?

The Day was told by the State Border Service of Ukraine that there are a total of 63 border crossing points (BCP) on the border with Russia, and that 44 of them are under Ukrainian control.

Paul Picard says their mission was invited to Russia by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and that the invitation was received in June when the foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, Germa­ny, and France were meeting in Berlin. Lavrov invited the OSCE Observation Mission (OM) to man two BCPs – at Donetsk and Gukovo where there were no Ukrainian officials left.

How about the 16 BCPs whose launching was declared by President Petro Poroshenko? Toward the end of September the Cabinet press service reported their closure. Anything could happen there if left uncontrolled by Ukrainians or international observers. Another question arises, out of pure logic: Do we need international observers who can keep monitoring only small parts of the territories seized by separatists?

Paul Picard says his mission’s 3-month mandate will be prolonged for another month. The Day asked him to comment on men dressed in combat fatigues and materiel crossing the Ukrainian frontier. He said this was untrue, that no officers or men, least of all materiel, had passed through the border crossing point; that there was a report addressed to the OSCE HQ reading that people wearing military-style clothes with or without backpacks did cross the border, that their number was recorded, but that there was no sign of any materiel crossing; that the Russian border guard and customs officers checked everyone, every vehicle before the OM staff’s very eyes. Great, except that the following day Mr. Picard told a news conference in Rostov-on-Don that his staff had not examined any Russia-to-Ukraine huma­nitarian aid convoys. UNIAN quotes him as saying that there were two such convoys that passed the Donetsk BCP, that his staff didn’t check them because they had no such authority, but that they kept watching. The first convoy included 227 trucks. Ukrainian officials arrived to take part in the checking of them. During the first examination 37 trucks were checked jointly with Ukrainian Red Cross Society officials, and then the convoy was allowed to proceed to Ukraine. The convoy returned within 24 hours.

Volodymyr Vasylenko, Ph.D. (international law) is not surprised by Russia vetoing the expansion of OSCE monitoring staff: “Ukraine’s border with Russia stretches for some 2,000 kilometers, with OSCE OM people monitoring just 1 km. Russia’s OSCE representative torpedoes the resolution on OM staff expansion meant to keep the whole border under control. This is further proof that Russia has never intended to observe the Minsk accords that have it in black and white that the [Russian] troops and mercenaries have to be withdrawn, and that the border must be placed under control, including by OSCE observation missions.” Vasylenko believes that Russians keep pressuring, that in the Donbas there is “a demarcation line being established between the terrorist and Ukrainian army units… This means that the borders of the self-styled Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics are being formed. This means that Russia will have an opportunity to keep them supplied with weapons and fuel, that these separatist formations will be there forevermore. This means going through the motions of carrying out the observation missions. This means that such missions are designed to camouflage and justify Russia’s actions.”

Vasylenko further believes that Russians “have never intended to allow the Ukrainian border guard troops, customs authorities, and even less so the OSCE OM men to check these Russian ‘humanitarian aid’ convoys; that these convoys actually carried weapons, fuel, and mercenaries. Another evidence that these terrorist separatist formations in Ukraine are meant to stay, with all dire consequences, causing destabilization within Ukraine. This won’t be another Transnistrian frozen conflict scenario, but one adding fuel to the internal fire, making it impossible for Ukraine to join the European Union, kissing goodbye to the NATO Membership Action Plan. This will be [Russia’s] bridgehead for all kinds of provocations and further acts of aggression against Ukraine.”

When asked whether Ukraine has some leverage over the situation, Vasylenko said there was no alternative, that the “only way to change Russia’s behavior is by strengthening the international community’s sanctions. Ukrai­nian diplomacy must now focus on how to convince our Western partners to toughen the policy of sanctions against Russia.”