NATO, EU and OSCE emergency meetings (Update)
(BRUSSELS2) At the request of Poland, an emergency meeting of the ambassadors of theAtlantic Alliance (North Atlantic Council or NAC) will take place on Sunday (March 2) at 13 p.m. at Alliance headquarters in Brussels on the situation in Ukraine and Crimea. Meeting convened under Article 4 of the Treaty which provides for consultation between Member States " whenever, in the opinion of one of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of one of the parties will be threatened ". It will be followed by a NATO-Ukraine meeting at 16 p.m., convened at the request of Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriï Deshtchitsa.
On the side of theEuropean Union, Catherine Ashton, the High Representative, convened an exceptional meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the "28" at 13 p.m. on Monday (3 March), " on the situation in Ukraine ". It will be preceded by a meeting of the ambassadors of the COPS, the political and security committee, perhaps as early as this Sunday.
Le greek minister of Foreign Affairs, D. Venizelos, goes to Ukraine on Sunday in Kiev and Mariupol (port city, located in the east of the country, where a Greek community resides), announces the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In Vienna, a meeting of the ambassadors of theOSCE, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (of which Russia and Ukraine are members), is also scheduled for Monday from 11 a.m. in the Hofburg, with the presence of the special envoy Tim Guldimann (who chairs the Kyiv office). Swiss Ambassador Thomas Greminger, who currently chairs the organization, will hold a press conference around 12:30 p.m.
Recall measures for ambassadors
(Update) The Foreign office (United Kingdom) summoned the Russian ambassador to London on Saturday. He had an interview with the political director Simon Gass (read here). Ditto in Prague, where Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek conveyed the message to Russian Ambassador Sergei Kiselev on Sunday that the decision to send troops to Crimea was " exaggerated and aggressive ". " The use of military units against a neighboring sovereign state is an absolutely unjustifiable step”. Lithuania decided on Sunday morning to recall its ambassador to Moscow, Renatas Norkus, in consultation to protest against the “ illegitimate Russian actions, violation of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.
