• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

OSCE to enlarge observers number in Ukraine to 500

22 April 2014, 19:21 -- The number of OSCE (Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe) special mission observers in Ukraine will be enlarged to 500, in order to implement the Geneva agreement, representatives of the Russian delegation said on Tuesday. Initially, the mission will comprise 100 observers, but the number may further be enlarged to 500.

The mission's headquarters will be in the capital Kiev. A previous OSCE mission, invited by the central government in Kiev, has tried to enter Crimea at least three times in early March, but was denied entry. Warning shots were fired on one occasion.

Ukrainian federalists share referendum plans with OSCE observers

The leadership of the federalization supporters in Ukraine's Donetsk Region have informed OSCE representatives of their plan to hold a referendum on the region's autonomy, a spokesman for the federalists said Tuesday, RIA Novosty reports.

'They came and met with us to hear our position. We have explained it to them,' said Alexander Hryakov, the head of the media committee of the People's Republic of Donetsk. 'We asked the OSCE to get our position across, things will not be the same as before,' he added.

The OSCE representatives asked what would happen if the results of the referendum on the status of the region do not satisfy the militia. 'I replied that if this is theoretically possible, then you can be sure we will not shoot at our own people, unlike how they are shooting at us now,' the activist stated.

Hryakov added that there may be other meetings with the OSCE representatives in the nearest future, in particular with a former employee of the German Consulate in Donetsk who intends to stay in the city.

Rallies of pro-federalization activists began last month in eastern Ukraine, with protesters in Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov calling for a referendum on the status of their respective regions within the country. To quell the protests, Ukraine's interim government announced a special anti-terrorist operation targeting the cities of Kramatorsk and Slavyansk in the Donetsk region.

Source: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_04_22/OSCE-to- enlarge-observers-number-in-Ukraine-to-500-1590/