Ambassador tells of Ukraine’s expectations of Poland’s chairmanship in OSCE

The year 2022 when Poland will be presiding over the OSCE might see escalation in Ukraine's east and near the country's borders.

That's according to Ukraine's Ambassador to Poland Andriy Deshchytsia, who gave an interview to Ukrinform.

"We appreciate that one of the priorities of Poland's chairmanship in the OSCE in 2022 is the settlement of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict," Deshchytsia said.

Among the main expectations of the Ukrainian side of Poland's chairmanship in the organization, he named the strengthening of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission's mandate in Ukraine.

"We understand that there must be a consensus among the OSCE countries on the issue but Russia won't agree to this. However, it is important to develop clear mechanisms for settling the security situation in the region," said the Ukrainian diplomat.

According to the envoy, Ukraine will raise the issue of human rights protection in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine and the situation of Ukrainian political prisoners, including Crimean Tatars.

"These are the issues that the OSCE deals with, and we expect that Poland will keep them in view and raise them at a high enough level," said the ambassador to Poland.

Deshchytsia has also noted that the Ukrainian side is waiting for the visit of the Polish Foreign Minister, Zbigniew Rau, in January as a representative of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

The Ukrainian diplomat noted that a very important task facing the OSCE is to de-escalate the situation around Ukraine's borders and prevent the conflict in the TOT from "freezing" as the ones in the OSCE areas in South Ossetia, Abkhazia, or Transnistria.

As reported, from January 1, Poland will take the annual chairmanship of the OSCE. Polish Foreign Minister Rau said he would pay one of his first foreign visits to Ukraine as OSCE chief.