OSCE Secretary General declared a split in the organization because of disagreements over Ukraine
The Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Lamberto Zannier, reported a split among the organization’s 57 member countries. This statement was released on Friday, December 9th, at the meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Hamburg. Zannier stressed that the split was caused primarily by disagreements over the conflict in Ukraine, but was not limited to that.
The OSCE Secretary General also stated that organization observers encounter obstacles in eastern Ukraine due to faults of both parties involved in the conflict, but to a greater extent, due to the separatists. In particular, the OSCE had to abandon monitoring the situation in the region with drones, as those were shot down.
The meeting of the OSCE foreign minister was held in Hamburg on December 8-9. As the DPA news agency notes, the countries failed to agree on a joint communiqué because of significant disagreements.