OSCE SMM Chief Monitor briefs Permanent Council

KYIV, 08 October 2021 — In his address to the OSCE Permanent Council yesterday, Ambassador Y. Halit Çevik, the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, stated that since his last briefing a deterioration of the security situation, including increasing use of Minsk proscribed weapons, the intensification of fighting near certain sensitive areas, a growing number of civilian casualties, as well as persistent constraints on SMM’s freedom of movement had been reported by the Mission.

“The backsliding of recent months underlines the sides’ continued lack of interest to live up to their commitments,” Ambassador Çevik said.

The Chief Monitor drew the Council’s attention to the fact that in August alone, the number of corroborated civilian casualties due to shelling and small-arms fire was 12; the highest since the 22 July 2020 agreement on Measures to strengthen the ceasefire, and that this trend  continued in September.

He underlined that increased fighting close to civilian infrastructures and crossing points was unacceptable and called on the sides to invest more effort into safeguarding civilian infrastructure.

Ambassador Çevik reminded that more than a 95 per cent drop in civilian crossings due to requirements imposed by the sides since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the closure of all existing checkpoints, with the partial exception of two, has severely limited the opportunities to maintain social and family ties across the contact line, and access to services, including pensions, education, healthcare and documentation. He underlined that the longer this situation prevailed, the greater the reintegration challenges would become.

The Chief Monitor also pointed out worrisome trends regarding freedom of movement restrictions faced by the SMM, adding that if the Mission was unable to access its mandated area of responsibility, it would not be able to deliver what it was tasked by the OSCE Permanent Council.

He said that the SMM was willing to increase its monitoring activities quantitatively in areas near the border outside government control, including through the opening of new forward patrol bases, but it needs political support in removing freedom of movement impediments.

In closing, Ambassador Cevik warned about the long-term trajectory of the conflict, if no steps were taken to reverse worrying trends. At the same time he called on the international community to urge and encourage the sides to adhere to their commitments.