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Paul Picard heads up the OSCE's Observer Mission at two Russian checkpoints on the border with Ukraine. In this interview he explains the facts behind the mission, and his view of how the ceasefire has changed things.
- Sleepwalking Into The Russian Invasion
- Eyes and Ears on The Ground
- For Internationals only
- ‘You All Remain at The Forefront of My Thoughts’
- National Staff at Russian Proxies’ Mercy
This wasn’t the first time an OSCE monitoring mission faced a challenging evacuation in dangerous circumstances. The organization knew what could happen if it left behind its national staff. On March 20, 1999, its Kosovo Verification Mission pulled its people out of the war there, but left local employees behind. “Local staff of the OSCE-KVM, and o...
The SMM, an unarmed, civilian mission, was originally deployed in 2014 and consisted of 350 to 400 civilian monitors from some 40 countries whose tasks were to observe and report cease-fire violations in the east in an impartial and objective manner, and to support dialogue throughout the country. Its presence, which would eventually grow to around...
The decision to evacuate international mission members was preceded by weeks of a nerve-wracking buildup of Russian troops along the border with Ukraine that was closely watched by the international community, including by the OSCE. Several OSCE participating states, among them the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, came to the ...
The situation is less clear when it comes to the OSCE’s obligations to evacuate national staff out of the country in the case of emergency. In contrast, international staff enjoy the right to repatriation within the terms of their employment. Lisa Tabassi, former head of the OSCE office for legal affairs, told POLITICO that it is common practice, i...
Ukrainian former staffers in those areas under Russian control declined to speak on the record out of concern for their safety. But some granted permission for other local staffers to speak on their behalf. Those people told POLITICO that dozens of staff members and their families are desperate to flee the occupied territories but have not left the...
Oct 22, 2014 · Stream Interview with Paul Picard, Chief Observer of the OSCE Observer Mission by osce on desktop and mobile. Play over 320 million tracks for free on SoundCloud.
The United States warmly welcomes Mr. Paul Picard to the Permanent Council. We thank you, Mr. Picard, for your leadership of the Observer Mission on the
Oct 9, 2014 · The OSCE's chief observer, Paul Picard, said his team was discussing the possibility of going to other border checkpoints in areas no longer controlled by Ukraine. "The current [OSCE]...
The European Union warmly welcomes the Acting Chief Observer of the OSCE Observer Mission at two Russian checkpoints on the Russian-Ukrainian border, Mr Paul Picard, to the Permanent Council.
