OSCE mission still trying to get to Crimea

OSCE has information about violations of the rights of national minorities in Crimea and tries to gain access to the peninsula.

According to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, Ilkka Kanerva stated that the representatives of the OSCE continued trying to gain access to Crimea to monitor the situation.

“The situation in Crimea is very delicate. A few weeks ago we reported that the rights of national minorities in Crimea were not observed. We understand the need for the mission in Crimea. And we are trying to get to Crimea. I do not have high hopes for it now. But I want to tell you that we will continue doing it,” he said at the briefing in the Parliament of Ukraine.

As a reminder, the Crimean Field Mission has called on the OSCE, the UN and the Council of Europe to monitor and assess the human rights situation on the Crimean peninsula. The human rights activists noted that the situation remained difficult and disturbing. At the same time it is falling out of the media spotlight, and the information obtained from the peninsula is often controversial and unproven.

The Crimean Field Mission experts are convinced that the presence of the international human rights defenders will reduce the degree of tension and conflict and pointed out that this could not be achieved by the efforts of the NGOs.