There was a lot of clapping last week as Switzerland ended its OSCE-chairmanship and praised its role in Ukraine.
Sadly, there is practically zero objection in the public (and most notably German-speaking media) to those disputable claims.
Some facts on the “security” mission:
- The OSCE has been able to control two border crossings on the uncontrolled 400kmlong Ukrainian-Russian border strip, some 40 Meters.
- Russia has prevented more observers on the border and also prevented observers to travel there. The OSCE-coordinator for border questions is Alexej Lyzhenkov, a former official in the Russian foreign ministry
- Russia thus has been able to get all its heavy artillery, tanks, special forces, regular troops and volunteers etc. to the current cease-fire line (see sprotyv.info, the Interpreter and Conflict Reporter)
- Russia has been able to storm selected targets on almost a daily basis, most notably theDonetsk airport
- In some areas, the front has been shifted a few dozen kilometers to the west after 5 September 2014 (compare the maps of Ukrainian gains and losses from the NSDC or the Interpreter)
- The OSCE has not been able to enforce the cease-fire provision to control the border and the cease-fire with its drones. They finally were delivered in mid-October (six weeks after the “cease-fire”), but have practically not been used as the occupying forceshave shot at them
- OSCE-symbols have been misused by the occupying forces
- President Poroshenko claimed that out of 270 observers, only 90 are in eastern Ukraine – we do not know where the rest is (in Kyiv?)
- The OSCE has reportedly passed on military information to the Russian side
- The OSCE-mission near Mariupol has reportedly passed on military information to the Russian side (one Ukrainian adviser claimed 80% of those in the mission had a Russian background)
- The OSCE has published reports discrediting Ukraine (i.e. shelling a Donetsk school – the shells most probably came from the occupying forces)
- Ukrainian soldiers have claimed they were shelled after visits of the OSCE.
- The mission largely exludes Ukraine. Ukraine is not allowed to have representatives in the mission – instead it favors the aggressor: Russia. The country has representatives in its own country contingent (10%) and potentially in the contingents of other post-Soviet, eastern European, and German-speaking countries. The OSCE has not published a list on how the mission is combined (they only stated that they prefer “Russian-speaking“)
- Propaganda is essential to the Russian side. OSCE’s ‚senior press assistant‘ Irina Gudyma is a Russian national
- The OSCE-representative for the issue of human trafficking Kazakhstan’s Madina Jarbusynova, used an appearance on Ukrainian TV to spread a false claim by the Russian state media of Ukrainian atrocities including “organ-trafficking”
What have been the advantages for Ukraine of the OSCE being there?
Next, the OSCE-chairmanship is going to Serbia that has not supported the western sanctions and has a clear pro-Russian line – hightime to kindly ask the OSCE to leave Ukraine!
