President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Ilkka Kanerva has criticized "unacceptable restrictions" faced by OSCE observers on the Ukrainian-Russian border, reads a statement posted on the organization's website.
"The Mission is restricted to report only on what it sees pass through the official crossings along the tiniest strip of border. If we are not permitted to do it right, the question is, is it worth doing at all," reads the statement.
Kanerva said that "in order to achieve consensus on deploying the [OSCE Observer Mission at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk on the Ukrainian-Russian border], unacceptable restrictions were condoned in its mandate."
He also noted that all OSCE monitors deployed to Ukraine must be "able to provide us with objective information about what is happening on the ground."
The Russian Foreign Ministry on Thursday expressed doubts about the objectivity of the OSCE mission in Ukraine.