Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said after talks with his Ukrainian counterpart Pavlo Klimkin that Serbia will prioritize Ukraine while chairing the OSCE. Dacic noted that Belgrade was respecting the territorial integrity of Ukraine and will do its best within the framework of the OSCE to de-escalate the situation. Russian Permanent Representative to the OSCE Andrey Kelin said in Moscow, commenting on Ukraine's renunciation of non-bloc status: "Ukraine does not meet the criteria to join NATO, there are no visible prospects of its joining the alliance."
According to Kelin, the events in Ukraine foregrounded the OSCE in 2014. "The OSCE is doing a multi-faceted job in Ukraine: monitors in the conflict zone, monitoring of the elections, human rights, reports about the situation in the country. OSCE observers do not work on border posts, Russian crossing posts, Gukovo and Donetsk. They are monitoring everything happening, including Russian humanitarian convoys and, most importantly, monitoring cargo, returning empty cars, because no one can accuse us of any secret act."
The OSCE has 17 field missions in the most complicated regions, such as the Balkans, Kosovo, Macedonia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Afghanistan, Moldova and Transnistria. Kelin added that the OSCE was helping resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, attending the Geneva Discussions.
Several countries, according to the Russian diplomat, have decided to reconsider their attitude towards field missions and removed the political elements, such as monitoring and attempts at forced democracy. The mandate in Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan has changed, all projects now require the approval of the countries the missions take place in.
The Russian representative to the OSCE noted that the organization had activated efforts in fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and corruption. The conceptual work on European security will continue, as seen at the recent session of the OSCE council of ministers held in Basel. "We could feel how some countries wanted to make the year a failure, to prevent the essential conceptual component from developing, so that Russia would not continue pursuing equal security conditions for all countries in the Eurasian space. Next year the line will be continued, in particular the "panel of wise men" of all countries is forming, in which our representative, who is trying to give a new vision of European security, will participate.
