OSCE launches National Dialogue project in Ukraine

VIENNA, 20 March 2014 – The OSCE today started to deploy  a team of 15 international experts to Ukraine as part of a National Dialogue project to identify areas for further OSCE activities to support confidence-building between different parts of Ukrainian society.

The project team will be deployed for four weeks in selected locations agreed with the Ukrainian government to gather information about issues of concern, in particular political, humanitarian and minority issues.

The project aims to contribute to a peaceful and sustainable political transition in the country and to immediately address problematic issues through supporting a national, inclusive and impartial dialogue throughout Ukraine.

The team is being deployed following a request by Ukraine. The project will be carried out by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine.

The 15-person expert team is headed by a Team Leader, Ambassador Hidajet Biščević of Croatia, and supported by ten locally-recruited administrative staff, interpreters and drivers.

The team will submit a final report with concrete recommendations on how the OSCE can support dialogue and restore confidence in Ukraine on the local, regional and national levels.

Note to editors:

This National Dialogue project is different from other initiatives taken by OSCE and its participating States, such as

• the visit by military and civilian personnel from OSCE participating States to Ukraine under the Vienna Document 2011 to dispel concerns of unusual military activity; or
• the election observation mission for the early presidential elections in Ukraine scheduled for 25 May 2014;
• a possible future monitoring mission, which will go ahead if agreed by consensus of the 57 participating States.