OSCE presence in Ukraine to continue without Russia’s consent – Rau

The presence of the OSCE in Ukraine will continue without the consent of Russia, Polish Foreign Minister, OSCE Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau says.

At a press conference in Kyiv on Tuesday, Rau assured that OSCE presence in Ukraine will now continue without Russian support, without Russian consensus or consent. This means that OSCE had to change the legal and financial mechanisms for conducting our activities, which means that OSCE created and ensured its presence in Ukraine, in Kyiv. He said this has already been discussed, a decision has already been made on this in accordance with certain resolutions from the current head and other members.

Rau also said the OSCE has reached a certain agreement with the Ukrainian government regarding activities in Kyiv.
According to him, it also means that we can organize relevant activities for certain extra-budgetary resources. This is what the OSCE Secretary General has already decided on, Rau said.

He pointed out the need to understand that taking into account all the OSCE activities on the territory of Ukraine, one cannot count on Russian consent, which does not allow obtaining a consensus.

Rau said the OSCE has a number of different mechanisms that allow to avoid or circumvent the principle of consensus. They have already mentioned the Moscow Mechanism, which OSCE officials currently use and, in fact, have already used it twice. If the situation requires it, they will use this mechanism even more often.

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