Oleksandr Chalyi: OSCE will help to solve the Ukrainian crisis

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) will help Ukraine to solve the current crisis related to the territorial integrity of the state, said Oleksandr Chalyi, the President of Grant Thornton Ukraine, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the State Secretary of the MFA of Ukraine on European Integration (1998-2004) during the 8th Kyiv Security Forum organized by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation.

"The OSCE is the only structure in the world that is really actively involved in resolving the situation in Ukraine," - he stated. "I know that in Ukraine, and not only in Ukraine, there are many critics of the OSCE. My first message is that the OSCE is the world's largest regional security structure. It will survive this crisis, because it has no alternative," - says the expert.

In his view, the current European security is comparable to what it was in the early 50s of the last century, “when Germany was divided, and Austria had Russian troops in its territory”. And in such circumstances, according to Oleksandr Chalyi, Ukraine has two ways out of the situation.

"The first option is that Ukraine can take way of the Western Germany, that means a transformation in a country which is divided; to deny the concept of neutrality from the Soviet Union, as Adenauer did, and to wait for 40 years until reunification of the country happens," - he explained. According to Oleksandr Chalyi, this option would be acceptable not only for Ukraine, but also for many of our allies. "If we follow this option, then we will need the OSCE since the OSCE will help us to freeze the conflict, to draw a dividing line, to build a new 'Berlin Wall' but to call it a ‘Yatsenyuk wall’ "and legitimize this new dividing line," - added Oleksandr Chalyi. He said that in such circumstances the OSCE would operate in a format that was defined by the Helsinki act of 1975.

The second scenario, according to the expert, implies Ukraine’s movement towards regaining its sovereignty and territorial integrity as Austria did after the Second World War. "If in the future the elite of Ukraine will support the idea of a new security formula, based on more collective principle of the security, then I am sure that the OSCE will be a good tool to offer a new formula which will enable Ukraine to follow the way of Austria after World War II," – he said. Oleksandr Chalyi underlined: "The OSCE has a strategic ability to help us to achieve these goals successfully in case of both scenarios”.

For your information:

The annual international event ‘Kyiv Security Forum’, established by the Arseniy Yatsenyuk Open Ukraine Foundation in 2007 is a platform for discussion of the most pressing issues concerning the security in Europe and the Black Sea region. The Forum is aimed at promoting security cooperation between the European Union and the Black Sea Region, raising awareness of the development of security among key players and strengthening the role of independent and non-governmental actors in solving security problems in Europe.