OSCE doubles Ukraine observer mission to 1,000

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe is to double the potential size of its observer mission in war-torn eastern Ukraine to up to 1,000 personnel, a spokeswoman for the security body said today.
"The decision was adopted today (by OSCE member states). The mission can now have a size of up to 1,000 according to the circumstances. The mandate was also extended to March 31, 2016," spokeswoman Mersiha Podzic said.
Last week the foreign ministers of Germany and Russia called for the expansion and the extension in order to "efficiently monitor" the latest Ukraine ceasefire between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government troops in areas of Ukraine bordering Russia.

Earlier Thursday in Kiev, Alexander Hug, deputy chief of the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), said that the ceasefire was largely holding but is on "thin ice".
"The ceasefire holds broadly along the long contact line" in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions, with crossfire continuing in some places but at "a lower level," Hug said.
The most critical locations were the village of Shyrokyne east of southeastern port of Mariupol and the areas surrounding the Donetsk airport, Hug said.

"In general it is positive that most of this fighting is being conducted with small arms and smaller calibre weapons and it's an indication that heavy weapons have actually been withdrawn and are not being used as often," he said.

He added that the OSCE has been trying to monitor the pullback of large artillery but the mission was still being hindered by both sides, Hug said, and did not have full inventories of weapons nor full access to sites where they may be stored.
As a consequence, Hug said the "relative stability is at the moment on thin ice" and that returning big guns back to the frontline would not take long.
Currently SMM includes members from around 40 OSCE member states supported by local staff. Teams of monitors work on a shift basis to ensure ground presence 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Daniel Baer, US ambassador to the OSCE, called on "Ukraine, Russia, and the Russia-backed separatists to ensure that the SMM has unfettered movement throughout the territory of Ukraine and to guarantee the safety and security of SMM monitors as they carry out their duties."
The EU-mediated agreement reached in Minsk on February 12 commits the warring parties to stop firing and pull back artillery with calibre greater than 100 millimetres 25 kilometres from the frontline.