OSCE Missions Infiltrated By Intelligence Services – Willy Wimmer

Former OSCE vice-president Willy Wimmer admitted that the Organization had been misused several times. For instance during the war in Yugoslavia, its missions were infiltrated by intelligence staff, he told Sputnik.

About 500 OSCE observers are currently monitoring the situation in eastern Ukraine, causing criticism among many Donbass residents.

People in eastern parts of Ukraine accuse the organization of biased reporting on the conflict. Donbass activists even recently organized a protest in front of the OSCE base in Donetsk to express its disapproval of the Organization’s activities.

According to former OSCE vice-president Willy Wimmer, the demo was a warning and an important lesson for the Organization.

It should not be like that, that one has to demonstrate before the OSCE finally starts to do its job, Wimmer told Sputnik.  The Organization should perceive it as a warning and take it into account in its further activities, he added.

The official also noted that there had already been bad experiences in the past, when the Organization was misused and its work — since the war in Yugoslavia — has been infiltrated by intelligence staff.

Another weak point of the OSCE activities, according to Wimmer, is its transparency shortcomings.

The work of the observers may well be very careful. But you never know what happens with their official reports on their way to the OSCE Ministerial Council, Wimmer said, adding that there were cases when the reports were rewritten by American operatives.

Nevertheless, Wimmer hopes that the Organization will eventually return to its original vision and play its key role in the prevention and resolution of military conflicts in accordance with its mandate.