Виголошена Заступником Постійного представника України при міжнародних організаціях у Відні Ігорем Лоссовським на 1194-му засіданні Постійної ради ОБСЄ 30 серпня 2018 року

 

Mr. Chairperson,

The delegation of Ukraine warmly welcomes OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, H.E. Mr. Enzo Moavero Milanesi to the Permanent Council. Your presence, Mr. Minister, provides a valuable opportunity to share views on the forthcoming Milano Ministerial Council.

This August, we marked 43^rd anniversary of the signing of the Helsinki Final Act, which laid a solid foundation of the European security order as well as for democracy, peace and unity in our continent.

Regrettably, the principles of the Helsinki Final Act, which include respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of States, non-use of force and non-interference in the internal affairs, have been blatantly violated by one OSCE participating State, which invaded Georgia in August 2008 and launched military aggression against Ukraine including attempted annexation of Crimea in 2014.

These flagrant breaches of international rule-based order remain the root cause of the ongoing security crisis and erosion of trust and confidence in the OSCE area. In the interests of our common security it remains critically important to maintain and step up politico-diplomatic pressure on Russia to make it return to the tenets of international law and restore respect for the Helsinki principles. We share your views on the role of the OSCE and multilateral diplomacy with a strong belief that our collective interests can only be served by a serious and genuine effort from all concerned, by defending foundations of our cooperative security without compromising on them.

 

Mr. Minister,

The gravest security crisis in Europe, stemming from the act of aggression of one participating State against another in violation of international law and OSCE principles and commitments, remains unresolved. Its resolution requires de-occupation by Russia of both Donbas and Crimea to restore Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders.

We commend the Italian OSCE Chairmanship for placing the highest priority on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as the most pressing security challenge in the OSCE area. The OSCE has an important role to play in facilitating the process of resolution of this conflict, in particular through the Trilateral Contact Group, the SMM and the OSCE autonomous institutions, which should be further strengthened.   In this regard, we appreciate the Chairmanship’s initiative to hold a series of informal briefings this year with participation of the TCG Working groups Coordinators, who provided the OSCE participating States with first-hand information on the current developments in the negotiations in Minsk.

We look forward to the Chairmanship’s efforts to promote the relevant draft of Ministerial document on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, which would become an important element of our common efforts within the OSCE to resolve it.

Ukraine appreciates Italian OSCE Chairmanship’s active engagement in the resolution of protracted conflicts in Georgia, in the Republic of Moldova and the Republic of Azerbaijan, which represent a persistent challenge to our common security.  As a state-guarantor and mediator in the Trandniestrian settlement process, Ukraine will continue to support the efforts aimed at ensuring continued progress in the negotiations in a result-oriented manner while invigorating discussions on important political and security issues of the settlement process.

The delegation of Ukraine commends Italian Chairmanship’s activities in implementing priorities in all three dimensions, including in addressing transnational threats, promoting economic progress, security and development, strengthening the Mediterranean dimension of the OSCE activities. While appreciating the intention of the Italian Chairmanship to enhance OSCE expertise in cross-dimensional topics, we hope that holistic approach will apply and the challenges of the internally displaced persons will receive proper attention during the deliberations on a “migration track”.

As a country facing complex humanitarian challenges caused by the external hybrid aggression, Ukraine looks forward to the meaningful discussion at the coming Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of the issues of protection of human rights in the situations of occupation, focusing on the continued human rights violations in the occupied Crimea and territories of Donbas, countering Russian state propaganda, release of Ukrainian political prisoners, illegally detained by the Russian authorities. The HDIM remains an important venue for monitoring compliance of OSCE participating states with their human dimension commitments and should be effectively used for this purpose.

We look forward to working closely with you and your highly professional team in Vienna in promoting deliverables, which could contribute to strengthening the OSCE’s capacity and enhancing its ability to act in responding to formidable challenges to our common security, while preserving and strengthening our shared commitments and principles.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.