The number of international observers in eastern Ukraine cannot be increased unless the security situation there improves, says a senior representative of the Organization for Co-operation and Security in Europe (OSCE), dpa reported. "We need weapons to disappear, we need checkpoints to disappear and we need freedom of movement," said Alexander Hug, the OSCE's deputy chief of monitors in Ukraine. "The safety and security of our colleagues is our number one concern," he said in Vienna, speaking after two teams of OSCE observers were freed by separatist kidnappers in eastern Ukraine. OSCE representatives point out, however, that it is ultimately up to OSCE member states to decide whether the mission should be broadened to also monitor a peace plan or the border with Russia.
