Dacic to Ukraine: Have confidence in Serbia at head of OSCE

KIEV - As holder of the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office next year, Serbia will do all to help de-escalate the conflict in Ukraine, Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic, who is on a visit to Ukraine in his capacity as future OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, said Tuesday.

Serbia respects the territorial integrity of Ukraine and believes that it is a basic principle of the OSCE, Dacic said after meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin in Kiev today.

Ukraine will be a priority in our work next year, Dacic said and expressed regret for the tragic events in the country.
Dacic stressed that great efforts should be made to stop further violence in Ukraine and to make the sides respect the ceasefire and President Poroshenko's peace plan, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said in a release.

We want our (OSCE) chairmanship to be transparent, impartial and objective and of benefit to the organization, said the Serbian foreign minister and stressed that he was calling for strict observance of the agreement and protocols from Minsk.

He expressed his expectation that the Trilateral Contact Group on Ukraine would soon continue to work on resolving all matters dealt with in the agreements, primarily the issues of vital importance for the people such as economic and humanitarian issues and exchange of prisoners.

According to Dacic, the presence of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in the whole of Ukraine, including border crossings, is very important.

Priority should be given to the political process instead of violence and weapons, Dacic said, adding that Serbia as country chairing the OSCE would have no easy task in the coming period.

This is a major challenge for Serbia and an...