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The strengths and weaknesses of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine are analyzed including the effectiveness of the organization's activities in resolving modern international conflicts, as well as its opportunities and challenges in this process. The OSCE SMM activities in Ukraine are investigated, mainly its institutional and procedural dimensions. Emphasis is placed on the idea that the OSCE is the main and only international governmental institution that promptly responds to the emergence of conflicts, uses already developed methods for their solution, and provides all members with information on compliance with the agreement by the parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Both the United Nations and the OSCE are working to improve their peace operations technologically. While the emphasis is more often placed on new collection tools (e.g., satellite imagery, UAVs, night-vision tools, etc.), the challenge remains to exploit the imagery and the copious other data that has been collected. By examining the software and evolving methods used by UN operations and the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, we evaluate two often neglected steps of the information/intelligence cycle: analysis and dissemination. Lessons are drawn from both UN and OSCE experience in war-torn locations. Both organizations still need to establish strong and effective data-analysis and -sharing systems within their missions, and to find better ways to share information with the conflicting parties, and with humanitarian partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the development of OSCE mediation and provides elements to explain the ups and downs over time. The origins of OSCE mediation date back to the inception of the organisation during the Cold War period. However, it only became a mediator in the 1990s, playing different roles. This work suffered in the 2000s as the OSCE's relevance was increasingly questioned. In recent years, the OSCE has seen renewed growth, owing to a political commitment by participating States to strengthen its mediation capacities and because of the leading role it took on in mediating the crisis in and around Ukraine. While this is a significant development, this article argues that the OSCE's mediation role is likely to be limited, focusing on the niche of managing established formats and local conflict prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how increased tensions between Russia and the West in the wake of the Ukraine crisis impact the conflict management work of the OSCE. It first looks at Russian perspectives of the OSCE and focuses on how these changed in the post-2014 period. It then proceeds with an overview of implications resulting from geopolitical tensions between Russia and the West that could positively or negatively affect the role of the OSCE in conflict management in the long term. The article ends by laying out 4 scenarios on how the situation and the OSCE could evolve and argues that in the near future a continuation of the status quo is most probable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the outcome of the 22nd osce Ministerial Council (mc) meeting, held in Belgrade on 3 and 4 December 2015, the year that the osce celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, its founding document. The article argues that the mc meeting was characterized by entrenched positions and that it illustrated the distrust and deep divides among the 57 osce participating States. The article explains that the negotiation process was overshadowed by the ongoing Ukraine crisis and by a number of bilateral conflicts between states. The author specifies some of the bilateral conflicts and shows how they took direct influence on the negotiation process and how they led to the fall of important draft documents. As a result, the Belgrade mc adopted only 5 declarations, among them on combating violent extremism and radicalization and on combating illicit drug trafficking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the outcome of the 21st OSCE Ministerial Council (MC) meeting, held in Basel, Switzerland, on 4 and 5 December 2014. The larger political context is taken into account, especially the crisis in and around Ukraine and the renewed confrontation between the West and Russia. The article provides an extensive analysis of all adopted decisions in the three security dimensions as well as of a number of draft documents that failed to reach consensus. The main documents that are analyzed include declarations on the Helsinki+40 process and on protracted conflicts, and decisions on countering kidnapping for ransom and terrorist foreign fighters, preventing corruption, improving disaster risk reduction, and on combating violence against women. The article concludes that the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship helped to reaffirm the OSCE'S role as the main forum for political dialogue between East and West. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper provides an analysis of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine within the multilateral attempt to manage or resolve the conflict in the Donets' Basin (Donbas). It aims to tentatively assess the SMM's influence on the de-escalation of the conflict during the Presidency of Petro Poroshenko, as a relatively closed political period. We explore the Mission's mandate, various evaluations of its operations and effectiveness, as well as the conflict participants' interaction with the Mission. The nature and dimension of the conflict have posed an, in its dimension, novel, yet, in its nature, not untypical challenge to the consensus-based OSCE. Despite the challenges of the Mission's specific scope and the limits placed on it by both Russian sabotage and a lack of resources, the SMM nevertheless managed, in 2014-2019, to contribute to de-escalation in the Donbas. Determinants of the net positive contribution of the SMM include its continued and large presence on the spot, the improvement of its reports on the situation in the conflict zone, as well as the development of more sophisticated monitoring methodologies and technologies over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feeling is widespread in the West that the post WWII normative international order has been under severe challenge since Russia's seizure of Crimea, now exacerbated by statements from the American president casting doubt on the institutions that underpin that order. Is there a future role for OSCE mediation as this order erodes? Study of the Ukraine crisis in light of other protracted conflicts on the territory of the former Soviet Union shows that the same challenges have existed for a generation. Because the conflicts were small, however, the international community chose to accept a fiction of convenience to isolate them from an otherwise functioning international order: the narrative that the separatists sought independence, not (as in reality) a re-drawing of post-Soviet borders. This isolation is under pressure both from the new experience in Ukraine and from the extension of ever-greater Russian control over the separatists, amounting to crypto-annexation, despite a backlash from Moscow's clients, including in Armenia. There is little likelihood of a resolution to the Ukraine crisis, including Russia's annexation of Crimea, and prospects for mediation to resolve the conflicts remain dim. However, continued talks may resolve some humanitarian issues and provide a release valve to prevent pressures boiling over into renewed open warfare. In 2015 the present author published an article outlining some effects of the Ukraine crisis on protracted conflicts in the OSCE area and on OSCE mediation in those conflicts. 1 He has been asked to revisit his assessment of that time in light of subsequent events in world politics (in particular the advent of a new administration in the United States) and in the region. The new developments give little cause for optimism that settlement in any of the conflicts is closer. Rather, the question for the OSCE is whether the international community, in view of the challenges posed by the Ukraine crisis, should continue to engage in the fictions that have allowed it to manage the conflicts since their beginnings in the collapsing Soviet Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seeking to place the SMM within the broader matrix of actors and initiatives involved in Ukraine, the contribution discusses the role of the OSCE SMM in supporting the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. The SMM has a role in monitoring, reporting and facilitating the implementation of the ceasefire elements in the Minsk Agreements, and interacts with a range of stakeholders across different levels. The contribution discusses some significant challenges and impediments to the implementation of the Minsk Agreements, and looks at how the SMM's possibilities and limitations to monitor and report on the security related aspects of these Agreements are affected by such constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses miscellaneous topics related to the Ukrainian war crisis. Topics discussed include 40th anniversary celebration of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, closing of OSCE office in Baku, Azerbaijan and issues of violence from Ukrainian crisis in Macedonia. Other topics include coincidence of a commemorative event held in Helsinki, Finland with the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly.

The article offers information related to Ukraine's leadership in the Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It states that in January 2013, Ukraine has took over the OSCE chairmanship from Ireland. It says that OSCE's Human Dimension is deemed a critical part of Ukraine's chairmanship as the country is criticized for its treatment of political prisoners.

Abstract This article examines the efforts of the High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to manage tensions in Ukraine between the substantial Russian minority and the Ukrainian government, and to prevent potentially violent conflict in Crimea from 1994 to 2001, as well as the subsequent efforts to promote peace and stability. It questions why the HCNM was remarkably successful in crisis management from 1994 to 2001, especially in averting secessionism in Crimea, but was hampered in his efforts to achieve a solid foundation for durable peace through the creation of a robust system of minority rights protection. The central argument is that regional politics often preclude the construction of a minority rights regime that could otherwise provide the foundation for durable peace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution examines mediation efforts undertaken by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in the context of the current crisis in and around Ukraine. It describes the establishment and evolution of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) and the mediated peace talks on the conflict in eastern Ukraine – the Minsk Process. Drawing from the author's insider perspective, it sheds light on the unique aspects of the framework compared to classical mediation processes. It argues that, due to its connectivity with high-level diplomacy as well as its ability to adapt to a constantly evolving conflict, the Minsk Process represents a valuable, flexible, at times untypical, mediation framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section offers information on political developments in the Organization for Security & Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the OSCE was allowed by Russia to observe the parliamentary elections on December 4, 2011. OSCE Ministerial held its annual meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania from December 6-7, 2011. It is stated that Ukraine could be isolated because from the imprisonment of former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

The paper evaluates the attempt to launch a National Dialogue process in Ukraine backed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) from the perspective of its teleology, design and impact in the context of the aggravating internal divisions, problematic legitimacy of the post-Maidan leadership, Russia actively backing the forces in opposition to the interim government in Kiev and subversive of the integrity of the Ukrainian state, and peaked geopolitical tensions in the broader region. in the run up to the extraordinary presidential election in Ukraine scheduled for 25 May 2014, the OSCE backed the launching of a National Dialogue to prevent further escalation of the destructive and increasingly violent internal conflict. The efforts aimed at the consolidation of the Ukrainian political elite from across the country, including in the rebellious East and South regions, and across the political spectrum, also involving the party of the fugitive President Yanukovych. This endeavor, by the OSCE Swiss Chairmanship, provides insight into the opportunities and limitations of the top-down and elite-based approach to the National Dialogue in Ukraine, particularly in comparison with the local grassroots dialogue initiatives in the divided communities as well as the center-region dialogue formats, on the one hand, and with the extra-national formats of talks involving Ukraine and Russia, on the other. Besides, lack of the strategic sequencing and embeddedness of short-term objectives of the stakeholders to either keep or challenge the political status quo and long-term accommodation of political differences by the reformed political and administrative arrangements and national reconciliation prevented the National Dialogue from gaining the momentum, was prohibitive of its continuity and did not get traction with the population irrespective of the political preferences. There were objective reasons that prevented proper design and implementation of the dialogue, such as urgency, extreme polarisation and strong pressure on the post-Maidan leadership at the time from opposing constituents that ardently rejected dialogue, a factor that could not be ignored against the backdrop of the upcoming series of elections. However the OSCE political imperative had prevailed over the professional approach to the design and facilitation of the National Dialogue. In particular, no clear agenda that resonated with the diverse constituencies' actual needs and grievances was developed, no broad consultations had been held prior to the dialogue, disagreements between the stakeholders regarding the participation were not resolved, and the very design of the events, including media presence, was not conducive of the genuine deliberation and joint search for the mutually acceptable short-term and long-term trajectory of the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Maidan protests in late 2013, women have played crucial roles in all sectors in the conflict in Ukraine: politics, civil society, reconciliation efforts, and armed fighting. The conflict has offered new challenges and opportunities for their emancipation, influence, and empowerment, but also for growing violations of their human rights. Despite their activism, women and gender issues remain underrepresented in the Minsk process for the resolution of the conflict, despite ongoing efforts by international organizations and pressure from civil society. International and national support for women's participation in dialogue and cooperation has increased, but needs to be sustained and expanded to new grassroots groups and women leaders for more visible impact. The article reflects the author's personal observations on how women's roles have evolved in the Ukrainian crisis by drawing on her field experience, meetings, interviews, and reports by international and national organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States has a vital interest in the restoration of Ukraine's sovereignty and the resolution of its conflict with Russia, which are key to de-escalating growing tension across the wider European and Euro-Atlantic space. Yet the conflict in Ukraine's East has settled into a largely recognisable pattern: a new and very large "frozen conflict," increasingly reminiscent of that in Moldova, Georgia and Armenia/Azerbaijan, where intense fighting at the time of the Soviet Union's collapse was reduced by de facto cease-fires, but no effective long-term conflict-settlement mechanism was found. Washington should seek agreement from all parties to engage more directly in an OSCE-mediated process to stem the ongoing damage to European security, the deepening human and economic costs, and the threat to Ukraine's sovereignty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that the international institutions in which negotiations have often taken place have been challenged by increased conflict among member states in the early 21st century. Multilateral international institutions function best when common interests are viewed as paramount by the state parties, because they allow the state parties to negotiate structures and processes that serve their shared interests and values. The paper analyzes the difficulties in managing international conflicts in the UN, osce, nato, and EU since 2000 due in part to the inability to achieve consensus within fractured and stalemated institutions. These problems have increasingly limited the role of these institutions in managing some of the most dangerous global conflicts, including on arms control and disarmament and managing the Russian war in Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the past five years, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission has been implementing its mandate, partially in an environment of ongoing violence. This article describes ways in which the conflict continues to impact the lives of civilians and describes the humanitarian-security nexus in the Ukrainian conflict. As well, the article draws conclusions, which contributions an international monitoring mission can make to mitigate the human cost of the conflict and pursue a comprehensive concept of security and to prevention, even while operating under the conditions of an ongoing conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a comment on the observations of Presidential election of Ukraine held in the December 2004 by several international organization. An unprecedented number of election observers descended upon Ukraine to monitor the re-run of the second round Presidential elections. They refused to accept the results announced by the Central Electoral Commission which had declared prime minister Viktor Yanukovich the winner. And they were strengthened in their resolve by the preliminary findings of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's election monitoring mission.

The article discusses Max van der Stoel's involvement in minority-related problems of post-Soviet Ukraine as High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). It highlights the possibilities and limitations of quiet diplomacy, deemed an essential mandate for the position. Stoel reportedly used the mandate that contributed in the de-escalation of conflicts between the Ukrainian government and leaders of major national minorities.

In 2014 Ukraine conducted two national elections against a backdrop of political upheaval and a separatist conflict in which national minority concerns were voiced by some parties. In the context of the election process, reports by international observers did not reflect discrimination against national minorities as voters or candidates. However, a dearth of candidates campaigning as national minorities or including national minority issues in their platforms was observed, and can be traced to peculiarities of the legal framework that disadvantage smaller and compact political forces. It was observed that candidates of various national minority backgrounds may campaign and win elections, but few declare themselves to be representing the interest of a national minority. This was true for both the proportional and simple majority races during the parliamentary elections, in which only five candidates campaigning as national minority representatives were elected to parliament. Ultimately the main issue for national minorities in Ukraine's political process is not one of discrimination, but the realistic opportunity for robust representation and advocacy of their communities' concerns at the national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article concerns ensuring national minorities' interests while establishing electoral boundaries in Ukraine. Special attention is paid to the areas with a concentrated minority settlement. A Hungarian national minority resident in Transcarpathia is the subject of the research. Among the three basic laws of Ukraine that regulate presidential, local and parliamentary elections, only the law regulating parliamentary elections complies with the international requirements regarding the consideration of national minorities' interests during delimitation of electoral borders. An electoral district in which majority of voters were Hungarians had been established before the 1998 parliamentary elections. But later, the Hungarian community was divided between three constituencies. Some comments and recommendations from the reports of observers from different international organizations have been elucidated. A review of law enforcement practice revealed that the long-lasting problem concerning the drawing of electoral boundaries in Transcarpathia has not yet been solved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the resilience demonstrated by the international system when confronted by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The author argues that this resilience might not be sustainable and that in the mid-term perspective we might observe some explicit disintegration in the system that affects multilateral institutions, international public law, and the global governance at large. Four independent variables are important in shaping the future world order: the outcome of the Russian-Ukrainian and the Russian-Western confrontation, the dynamics of the US-China relations, the sustainability of Western cohesion, and the prospects for a new cycle of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The MH17 disaster makes clear that international peace and security cannot be taken for granted. The widespread support in Ukraine for democratization and rule of law presents Western democracies with a strategic opportunity. They should look beyond their short term interests and develop a long term view on their relations with Ukraine and Russia. They should invest more in international organizations and conflict prevention. Finally: the proliferation of long-range anti-aircraft missiles has to be prevented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In bilateral relations and negotiations with the European Union (EU), smaller and economically weaker states are often unable to express their national preferences. Despite their limited bargaining power, however, some Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries obtained significant concessions from the EU. This article analyzes the factors that explain EaP states' unexpected negotiation success in the context of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) with Ukraine, the Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Armenia, and enhanced economic partnership with Belarus. We identify negotiation strategies that are crucial to understanding of the puzzle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looks into Ukraine's minority politics after the Revolution of Dignity of 2014. It analyses the inclusivity of minority politics against three key parameters – institutional framework, dialogue mechanisms, and non-discriminatory policies. The research is conducted through an in-depth comparison analysis of minority politics of two post-revolutionary presidents – Petro Poroshenko (full term) and Volodymyr Zelenskyi (first two years). The conclusion is made that the political elites failed to drive an inclusive course towards ethno-linguistic minorities. The inclusivity along the three criteria has been provided impetus either on ad-hoc basis or not at all. On the level of policies, a regression can be observed. The underlying cause for the state not succeeding in achieving an inclusive minority course is that the two administrations had predominantly divergent motives for addressing this topic. As a result, the implementation of some inclusivity-oriented measures suffered and the minority-related discourse became highly politicized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the creation of the EU, there have been instances in which a restricted number of member states has handled an issue of international security on behalf of the Union. This article argues that, while controversial, these 'lead groups' have been a valuable practice. They have been effective in generating intra-EU consensus on specific issues and spurring the EU into action, thereby enabling a European response in the context of conflict management and complex international negotiations. Lead groups are sub-optimal arrangements compensating for the in-built institutional shortcomings of unanimity-based decision-making in EU foreign policy. As such, they do not bring integration further. They have nonetheless shown significant potential in giving initiative and content to EU foreign policy. This is shown through the analysis of two case studies, the Anglo-Franco-German trio involved in Iran's nuclear issue and the Franco-German duo brokering a truce between Russia and Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detention operations have been a salient feature of the military conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Often referred to as exchanges or swaps of detainees, the operations leading to the simultaneous release and transfer of detainees (SRTD) offer fertile terrain for inquiring about the applicability of international humanitarian law (IHL) and international human rights law (IHRL). This article attempts to fill a gap in the literature on detention operations outside the war on terror framework. It offers a chronological review of the detention operations that have taken place in Ukraine since the beginning of the military conflict. This paper then follows a classical two-step analysis first of IHL, IHRL and domestic law provisions applicable to SRTDs and, second, of the impact of these provisions on the human rights protection of the persons involved. The preliminary conclusions of this analysis indicate that, despite the praise of the international community for the SRTDs in Ukraine, human rights violations have resulted from SRTDs. More specifically, the legal framework under which SRTDs take place appears to be a 'cocktail' of IHL and IHRL provisions. Certainly, SRTDs have attracted international media coverage and support for Ukraine. At the same time, however, the 'hidden cost' of these operations begins to be understood as well because the legal status of many participants in the SRTDs appears to worsen, access to justice appears to be hampered and the independence of justice appears to be threatened as a result of these operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at the first phase of the implementation and application of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement, which triggered unprecedented political, economic and legal reforms in Ukraine. In particular, the article focuses on the constitutional challenges that have arisen for Ukraine in the course of implementing the Association Agreement into its legal system. Two issues form the focus of consideration in the article. The first issue is effective implementation and application of the Association Agreement within the Ukrainian legal order. The second issue is compatibility between the Association Agreement and the Ukrainian Constitution. The latest political and legal developments in Ukraine are analyzed through the prism of effective implementation of the Association Agreement and the rise of pro-European judicial activism in Ukraine. In conclusion it is argued that the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement enhanced the adaptability of the national constitutional order to the European integration project and European common values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the position of the Crimean Tatars, seventy years after their mass Deportation from Crimea in 1944, and twenty-five years since they were able to begin to return to Crimea in 1989. It concentrates on the politics of their position since Viktor Yanukovych was elected President of Ukraine in 2010, looking at arguments within their ranks and at government attempts to play 'divide and rule'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the developmental crisis in Crimea, Ukraine and the relationship between Russia and Ukraine after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. History of Crimea; Details of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine concerning the authority over Crimea; Role of the Crimean Tatars in Crimea's autonomy and self-determination.