Dzheppar discuss situation in occupied Crimea and Donbas in OSCE

During her working visit to Austria, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar discussed the issues of the occupied Crimea and Donbas in the OSCE and reached an agreement on the support for Ukraine’s issue at the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting.

The First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine held several meetings with representatives of OSCE and UNESCO, as well as colleagues from the Austrian Foreign Ministry.

"We discussed the issues of the occupied Crimea and Donbas, and also agreed on the support for Ukraine’s issue ahead of the OSCE Ministerial Council meeting in early December. A separate topic of discussion was the work of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine which is an important international instrument for ensuring respect for human rights and freedoms… Illegal armed groups on the territory of Donbas and Crimea hinder the work of the SMM in every possible way, so it is extremely important that Western partners pay more attention to this problem," Dzheppar posted on Facebook.

The deputy minister expressed hope for further steps to intensify the Mission's work to gain access to occupied Crimea.

Emine Dzheppar also met with Peter Launsky-Tieffenthal, Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs in Austria’s Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs. The officials discussed the situation in Crimea and Donbas, Russia's brutal violation of international humanitarian law and neglect of the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens, including Crimean Tatars, who live on the peninsula.

"We rely on Austria's support for our initiatives to regain full control over the entire territory of Ukraine, which is 603,628 sqm," the First Deputy Minister concluded.

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