OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine opens Forward Patrol Base in Horlivka

DONETSK, 9 December 2015 - The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine is today opening a new Forward Patrol Base to house a small group of monitors in the city of Horlivka, an area currently not under government control in the eastern region of Donetsk. Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug will spend the first night in the newly-established Base together with the team.

“This base will enable us to follow up on reports about incidents faster and will help us perform our mandated tasks more efficiently, and in parity on both sides of the contact line,” Hug said. He added that the monitors’ permanent presence in the area should help motivate the signatories to adhere to their obligations under the Minsk agreement more effectively.

The SMM announced its intention to open a number of Forward Patrol Bases in the area two months ago and has asked those in effective control to provide security guarantees for its unarmed civilian monitors.

Residents of Horlivka have in the past told the SMM that they wanted the Mission to have a permanent presence in their city, which has been seriously affected by the conflict.

The SMM has informed the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) of this move and both the Ukrainian and the Russian representatives to the JCCC have expressed their support.

 “We expect the sides to support the SMM in its work towards easing tensions and normalizing the situation in Ukraine, to which our Forward Patrol Bases will greatly contribute,” said Hug.

The SMM has already opened two Forward Patrol Bases in government-controlled areas – in Volnovakha (Donetsk region) and in Novoaidar (Luhansk region). A third base is currently operating in Stakhanov, a city in an area of the Luhansk region that is outside of government control. The Mission is looking to open more such bases on both sides of the contact line to ensure that the monitoring is carried out in parity.