Brussels/Riga, 19/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 18 February, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko called on the European Union to deploy a police mission, under mandate of the United Nations, to monitor respect of the ceasefire in East Ukraine. The EU is referring to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
On Wednesday 18 February, the Ukrainian national security council approved Poroshenko's request for UN peacekeepers in Ukraine, who would act in line with the mandate from the UN Security Council. “The best format is the EU police mission”, Poroshenko told members of the national security council. “It would be the most effective guarantor of security, when the word 'peace' is no more respected by Russia than by those it supports”, he said. “A decision has been taken to appeal to the UN and to the EU about implementing a peacekeeping and security operation in Ukraine”, said Olexandr Turchynov, the secretary of the Ukrainian national security council. EU police missions do not depend on a UN mandate but require the agreement of the EU member states.
Catherine Ray, the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, stated that the OSCE was already on the ground and that the EU was giving it technical and financial support. Ray reiterated that the objective was the full and complete implementation of the Minsk agreements. “We are ready to do more, if needed, for the implementation of the agreements”, she added, without giving further detail.
According to a European source, Poroshenko's request has not yet been received by the EU.
In Riga, the deputy secretary general of the European External Action Service (EEAS), Maciej Popowski, also stated that the EU's priority was to support the Minsk agreements. “More clarity is needed” on Poroshenkos's proposal, he added. He said that the EU would provide the OSCE with armoured vehicles and satellite images to monitor the ceasefire. France's defence minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, stated that the Minsk agreements provided for the deployment of 400 OSCE observers to ensure respect of the agreements. “If the requests exist, they must be made in the framework of these agreements”, he added.
Russia's ambassador to the UN is opposed to the idea of a peacekeeping force.
Elsewhere, in a reply to an MEP, European Commissioner for Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos stated that since November 2014, 11,170 citizens from Ukraine have sought international protection in the EU - in other words, ten times more than in 2013 (1,125 requests). Every member state has received at least one request - with Germany, Poland, Sweden, Italy and France having received the lion's share of the requests. Ukrainians accounted for 2% of all international asylum seekers in 2014. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, around 942,000 people have been displaced due to the conflict in Ukraine, and 600,000 people have fled to neighbouring states. (Camille-Cerise Gessant and Jan Kordys)